THE  GIFT  OF 

MAY  TREAT  MORRISON 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

ALEXANDER  F  MORRISON 


Gbe  Semitic  Series 


THE   EARLY  HISTORY  OF  SYRIA 
AND  PALESTINE 

By   LEWIS   BAYLES    PATON 


SERIES   OF  HAND-BOOKS  IN  SEM1T1CS 

EDITED    BY 

JAMES   ALEXANDER   CRAIG 

PROFESSOR   OF   SEMITIC   LANGUAGES   AND   LITERATURES   AND 
HELLENISTIC   GREEK,    UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN 

Recent  scientific  research  has  stimulated  an  increasing  interest 
in  Semitic  studies  among  scholars,  students,  and  the  serious  read- 
ing public  generally.  It  has  provided  us  with  a  picture  of  a 
hitherto  unknown  civilization,  and  a  history  of  one  of  the  great 
branches  of  the  human  family. 

The  object  of  the  present  Series  is  to  state  its  results  in  popu- 
larly scientific  form.  Each  work  is  complete  in  itself,  and  the 
Series,  taken  as  a  whole,  neglects  no  phase  of  the  general  subject. 
Each  contributor  is  a  specialist  in  the  subject  assigned  him,  and 
has  been  chosen  from  the  body  of  eminent  Semitic  scholars  both  in 
Europe  and  in  this  country. 

The  Series  will  be  composed  of  the  following  volumes : 
I.  Hebrews.     History  and  Government.     By  Professor  J.  F. 
McCurdy,  University  of  Toronto,  Canada. 
II.  Hebrews.     Ethics  arid  Religion.     By  Professor  Archibald 
Duff,  Airedale  College,  Bradford,  England.      [/«  Press. 

III.  Hebrews.     The  Social  Lije.     By  the  Rev.  Edward  Day, 

Springfield,  Mass.  [No7i>  Ready. 

IV.  Babylonians    and   Assyrians,   with   introductory   chapter 

on  the  Sumerians.     History  to  the  Fall  of  Babylon. 
V.  Babylonians  and  Assyrians.     Religion.     By  Professor  J. 
A.  Craig,  University  of  Michigan. 
VI.  Babylonians   and  Assyrians.     Life  and  Customs.     By 
Professor  A.  H.  Sayce,  University  of  Oxford,  England. 

\Noiv  Ready. 

VII.  Babylonians   and  Assyrians.     Excavations  and  Account 

of  Decipherment  of  Inscriptions.     By  Professor  A.  V. 

Hilprecht,  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

VIII.  Syria   and   Palestine.      Early   History.      By   Professor 

Lewis  Bayles  Paton,  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 

[Now  Ready. 

IX.  Development   of    Islamic    Theology,    Jurisprudence, 

and   Theory    of    State.     By   Professor   D.    B.    Mac- 

donald,  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 

The  following  volumes  are  to  be  included  in  the  Series,  and 

others  may  be  added  : 

X.  Phoenicia.     History  and  Government,  including  Colonies, 

Trade,  and  Religion. 
XI.  Arabia,  Discoveries   in,  and  History  and  Religion   until 
Mohammed. 
XII.  Arabic  Literature  and  Science  since  Mohammed. 
XIII.  The   Influence   of   Semitic  Art  and  Mythology  on 
Western  Nations. 


ZTbe  Semitic  Series 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF 
SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


BY 


LEWIS   BAYLES   PATON,   Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF   OLD   TESTAMENT   EXEGESIS   AND   CRITICISM    IN 
HARTFORD   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


WITH  MAPS 


NEW    YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1901 


Copyright,  1901,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


Published  September,  1901 


TROW   DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND   BOOKBINDING   COMPANY 

NEW   YORK 


DS 
12  I 

P&JJL 

CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

Scope  op  the  History ix. 

Chronological  Tables     .......  xiii 

_    Bibliography xx 

CD 

jr 

CHAPTER  I 
The  Earliest  Inhabitants 1 


CHAPTER   II 

The  Old  Babylonian  Supremacy 14 

o 
2 

CHAPTER   III 

**       The  Amoritic  Migration 25 

to 

CHAPTER   IV 

The  Rule  of  the  City  of  Babylon        .         .        .        .47 

5 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Canaanitic  Migration 63 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Egyptian  Supremacy 74 


431897 


VI  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   VII 

PAGE 

The  Hittite  and  the  Aramaean  Migration    .        .        .  103 

CHAPTER   VIII 
The  Rise  of  the  Aramjean  Nations         ....  122 

CHAPTER   IX 
The  Period  of  the  Hebrew  Judges       ....  157 

CHAPTER  X 
The  Period  of  the  Early  Hebrew  Kings     .        .        .  176 

CHAPTER   XI 
Th2  Advance  of  Assyria 199 

CHAPTER  XII 
The  Assyrian  Supremacy 229 

CHAPTER   XIII 

The  New  Babylonian  Supremacy 271 

Index 283 

MAPS 

PACING  PAGE 

Syria  and  Palestine  Before  2000  b.c.  .        .         .     '2,0 

Syria  and  Palestine  in  the  Egyptian  Inscrdptions  .  78 
Syria  and  Palestine  in  the  Tell-el-Amarna  Letters  97 
Syria  and  Palestine  in  the  Old  Testament  .  .  157 
Syria  and  Palestine  in  the  Assyrian  Inscriptions       .  200 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  SYRIA 
AND  PALESTINE 


INTRODUCTION 

In  ancient  Babylonian  usage  Suri,  from  which  our 
name  Syria  is  derived,  meant  Northern  Mesopotamia 
and  the  adjacent  districts  of  the  Armenian  and 
Taurus  mountain  chains.  In  Greek  and  Roman 
times  it  was  limited  eastward  and  northward  and  was 
extended  southward,  so  that  it  came  to  denote  the 
region  between  the  Taurus,  the  Euphrates,  the  Syr- 
ian Desert,  Egypt,  and  the  Mediterranean.  This  ap- 
plication of  the  name  has  become  traditional,  but 
it  does  not  commend  itself  to  the  historian  of  the 
ancient  Orient.  From  time  immemorial  the  northern 
half  of  this  region  has  been  peopled  by  different 
races  from  the  southern  half,  and  politically  the  two 
divisions  have  been  independent  until  comparatively 
recently.  For  these  reasons  it  is  advisable  to  limit 
the  name  Syria  to  the  territory  between  the  Taurus 
and  Mount  Hermon,  and  to  apply  to  the  remaining 
portion  of  the  East  Mediterranean  coast  the  name  of 
Palestine.  This  name  is  due  to  a  late  Greek  exten- 
sion of  the  meaning  of.  Philistia  ;  we  have,  however, 
no  ancient  designation  that  covers  the  region  so 
precisely. 

Oriental  history  divides  naturally  into  three  main 


x  INTKODUCTION 

periods  :  the  first,  that  of  the  development  of  the 
Semitic  nationalities;  the  second,  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  Indo-Germanic  Persians,  Greeks,  and  Romans ; 
the  third,  of  the  rise  of  Islam.  The  purpose  of  this 
volume  is  to  tell  the  story  of  the  West  Semitic 
peoples  during  the  first  of  these  periods,  that  is,  from 
the  earliest  times  down  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Persian  empire.  Within  the  last  few  years  impor- 
tant archa3ological  finds  have  been  made  in  Syria 
and  Palestine.  On  account  of  their  central  position 
they  were  in  constant  contact  with  Bab}lonia,  As- 
syria, Egypt,  and  Arabia ;  and  consequently,  all  dis- 
coveries in  the  Orient  throw  light  upon  their  early 
history.  In  this  book  I  have  endeavoured  to  gather 
up  the  results  of  the  most  recent  explorations,  and 
combining  them  with  the  facts  already  known  from 
the  Bible  and  from  other  ancient  sources,  to  present 
them  in  a  clear  and  popular  form.  New  discoveries 
are  constantly  being  made,  so  that  before  this  work 
leaves  the  press  some  of  its  conclusions  will  per- 
haps be  already  antiquated;  nevertheless  I  trust 
that  in  the  main  it  will  be  found  to  represent  fairly 
the  present  stage  of  archaeological  and  historical 
science. 

The  length  of  the  period  covered,  and  the  limita- 
tion imposed  upon  the  size  of  *the  volume,  have  often 
made  it  necessary  merely  to  state  conclusions  with- 
out giving  the  reasons  on  which  they  are  based.  Full 
citation  of  the  authorities  to  whom  I  am  under  obli- 


[INTRODUCTION  xi 

gationhas  also  been  impossible.  On  pages  xx-xxxvi 
I  have  given  a  list  of  the  more  important  general 
discussions,  and  in  the  foot-notes  I  have  indicated 
the  chief  treatises  upon  particular  points.  The  his- 
tories of  Israel  and  of  the  Phoenicians  are  to  be  treat- 
ed in  other  volumes  of  the  Semitic  Series;  I  have, 
therefore,  touched  upon  them  only  so  far  as  was  nec- 
essary to  give  completeness  and  connection  to  the 
history  as  a  whole. 

For  the  chronology  of  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
history  I  have  followed  the  conclusions  of  Lehmann,1 
whose  discussion  is  the  most  thorough-going  and  self- 
consistent  that  has  yet  appeared.  For  the  Egyptian 
kings  from  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  onward  I  have 
adopted  the  dates  of  Lehmann  and  of  Steindorff.  ~ 

1  Zwei  Havptprobleme  der  aUorientalischen  Chronologie,  Leip- 
zig, 1898.  Lehmann's  results  have  found  the  acceptance  of 
Eduard  Meyer,  Litterarisches  Centralblatt,  1899,  No.  4  ;  Rosch, 
Jahresbericht  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft,  1898,  i.  17;  Prasek,  Ber- 
liner philologische  Wochenschrift,  1898,  No.  42  ;  Fossy,  Revue 
Archeologique,  1899,  p.  363  ff.  ;  Tiele,  Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriolo- 
gie,  1900,  p.  390  ff.  Other  historians,  however,  such  as  Hilprecht, 
Rost,  Radau,  Rogers,  and  Oppert,  dissent  strongly  from  Lehmann's 
conclusions  ;  and,  accepting  the  isolated  statement  of  Nabuna'id 
that  Naram-Sin  reigned  3,200  ( ! )  years  before  his  time,  place  the 
first  Babylonian  kings  1,000  years  earlier  than  the  dates  adopted  in 
this  work.  E.g.,  Radau,  Early  Babylonian  History,  p.  30,  as- 
signs Enshagkushanna  to  before  4500  B.C.,  Ur-Nina  to  4300  B.C., 
and  Sargon  I.  to  3800  (instead  of  3400,  3200,  and  2770,  the  dates 
that  I  have  preferred  in  this  book).  The  question  of  the  chro- 
nology is  by  no  means  settled,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  until  more  de- 
cisive facts  are  discovered. 

2  Die  Blidezeit  des  Pharaonenreiclis,  Leipzig,  1900. 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

For  the  period  before  the  Hyksos  occupation  I  have 
followed  Borchardt l  in  his  conclusion  that  the 
heliacal  rising  of  Sirius  recorded  in  the  Papyrus 
Bernhardt  as  occurring  in  the  seventh  year  of  User- 
tesen  III.  fell  between  the  years  1876-72  B.C.,  and 
from  this  fixed  point  I  have  calculated  the  dates  of 
the  earlier  dynasties.  In  the  Chronology  of  Israel- 
itish  history  I  am  most  indebted  to  the  investigations 
of  Buhl.8  A  fuller  discussion  of  the  problems  of 
the  chronology  will  be  found  in  my  article  on  "  Ke- 
cent  Investigations  in  Ancient  Oriental  Chronology," 
Biblical  World,  July,  1901.  On  pp.  xiii-xix  I  have 
embodied  my  conclusions  in  a  chronological  table  of 
the  early  Oriental  kings.  In  the  first  column  stands 
the  nation  that  during  the  period  in  question  held 
the  supremacy. 

The  transcription  of  proper  names  has  been  at- 
tended with  many  difficulties.  With  considerable 
reluctance  I  have  finally  decided,  in  view  of  the  pop- 
ular character  of  this  book,  not  to  follow  the  modern 
scientific  method  of  transcribing  Semitic  names,  but 
to  represent  n  and  its  equivalents  by  kh,  ID  by  sh,  and 
not  to  try  to  distinguish  between  t:  and  n  or  between  0 
and  to.  In  the  transcription  of  Egyptian  names,  for 
the  student's  convenience,  I  have  followed  the  system 
of  Petrie  in  his  History  of  Egypt. 

1  Zeitschrift  fur  dgyptische  Sprache,  1899,  2. 

2  "  Chronologie  der  Kunige  von  Israel  und  Juda,"  Deutsche 
Zeitschrift  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft.  xii    44-76.  171. 


EARLY    ORIENTAL    KINGS 


xm 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE— I. 


B.C. 

3430 


GISH-UKII  (?) 


Udug— ? 

Mesilim 


3220  

3200  Lugaldaak  ? 

Alzuzua 

Enne-Ugun 


2940  Urzaguddu 


Lugaltarsi 


Manishtusu 


Ush 


Gunarnmide 

Enakalli 

Urlumma 
Hi 

Ukush 

Lugalzaggisi 


Ezuab 


Alusharskid 

AGADE 

2770  Sharganisharali 
2750  Naram-Sin 


2650 


Enshagkushanna 

"  Lord  of  Kengi" 


Lugalkigubnidudu 
Lugalkisalsi 


Ur-Gur 
Dungi 

Bur-Sin  I. 
Gimil-Sin 
Ine-Sin 


Urukagina 


Enkhegal 


Lugalshuggur 


Ur-Nina 

Akurgal 

Eannatuin 

Enannatum  I. 

Entemena 

Enannatum  II. 

Lummadur 


Lugalanda 


Lugalushumgal 
Ure 


Ur-Ba'u 

Nammakhni 


Gudea 

Ur-Ningirsu 
Galukani 


Ur-Ninsun 


III.  Nebka 
Zeser 
Meaokhris 

Soufis 

Teta 

Nebkara 

Sezes 

Beni 

IV.  Sneferu 
Kliufu 
Khafra 
Menkaura 
Radedf 
Shepseskaf 
Sebekkara 
Aimhetep 

V.  Userkaf 
Sal)  ura 
Neferarkara 
Shepscskara 
Neferfra 
Raenuser 
Menkaubor 

Dadkara 
Unas 

VI.  Teta 
Aty 

Meryra 

Merenra 

Neferkara 


Merenra 

Neterkara 
Menkara 


XIV 


EARLY    ORIENTAL    KINGS 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE— II. 


B.C.            BABYLON 

ERECH 

ELAM 

EGYPT 

2550 

Singashid 
Singamil 

VII.  dynasty 

ISIN 

2450 

Ishbigirra 
Libit- Anunit 
Bur-Sin  II. 

VIII.  dynasty 

I. 

Ur-Ninib 

IX. 

23+1  Sumuabi 

Ishme-Dagan 

Abmervra 

2327  Sumulailu 

Enannatum 

Kameryra 

LABSA 

Maabra 

2291  Zabu 

Nur-Ramman 

Kudur- 

Skhanra 

Nankhundi 

Khauserra 

2277  Apil-Sin 

Sinidinnam 

Aahotepra 

2259  Sinmuballit 
2239  Khammurabi 

Aa 

X.  Khvan  (?)  etc. 

Eri-Aku 

Chedorlaomer 

2196  Samsuiluna 

XL  Antef  I. 
Mentuhotep  I. 
Antef  II. 

2158  Ebishum 

Antef  III. 

2133  Ammisatana 

Mentuhotep  II. 

2108  Aramisadugga 

Antef  IV. 

2087  Samsusatana 

Antef  V. 

II. 

Mentuhotep  III. 

2056  Anmaan 

Antef  VI. 

1996  Kiannibi 

XII.  Amenemhat  I 

1940  Damkilushu 

Usertesen  I. 

1914  Ishkibal 

Amenemhat  II. 

1899  Shushshi 

Usertesen  II 

1875  Gulki 

Usertesen  III. 

1820  Kirgaldarabar 

Amenemhat  III. 

1770  Aiadarakalanuna 

Amenemhat  IV. 

1742  Ekurulanna 

Sebekneferura 

1716  Melarnmakurkurra 

XIII. 

1708  Eaga 

EARLY   ORIENTAL    KINGS 


XV 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE— III. 


1G88 
1U72 
L650 
1028 
1G19 
1570 
1553 
1544 
1 5 1 5 
H(il 
1436 
1427 
1392 
1376 
1374 
1370 
1353 
1347 
1330 
1324 

1305 
1258 
1238 
1224 
1210 
1204 
1191 
1183 
1182 
1180 
1174 
1144 
1129 
1116 
1115 


Hyksos  Rule, 
Dynasties 
XIV.,  XV.. 
XVI.,  XVII. 

XVIII.  Aahmes 
Amenhotep  I. 
Tahutimes  I. 

Tahutimes  III. 
Amenhotep  1 1. 
Tahutimes  I  V . 
Amenhotep  III. 
Amenhotep  IV. 
Tutankhaten 
Ay 

Horemheb 
XIX   Uamessul 
Sety  I. 

Ramessu  II. 


Merenptah 
Sety  II. 
Arisu 

XX.  Setnekht 
Ramessu  III. 
Ramessu  IV. 
Ramessu  V. 
Ramessu  VI. 
Ramessu  VII. 
Ramessu  VIII. 
Ramessu  IX. 
Ramessu  X. 
Ramessu  XI. 
Ramessu  XII. 


BABYLON 
111. 

Caiulash 

AuMiinstii 

Bitiliashu  I. 

Dushi 

Adumetash 

Tashzigurmash 

Agurokakrime 

Karaimlash 

Kadashman-Bel  I. 

Burnaburiash  I. 

Kurigalzu  I. 

Kadashman-Bel  II. 

Burnaburiash  II. 

Karakhardash 

Kadashmankharbe  I. 

Kurigalzu  II. 

Nazimaruttash 

Kadashman-Turgu 

Kudur-Bel 

Shagaraktiburiash 

Bitiliashu  II. 

Rammanshumutsur  I, 

Sibir  ? 


Sharashi-Ramman  I. 

Khallu 

Irishnm 

Igurkapkapi 

Shamshi-Ramman  II. 


Ashurbelnisheshu 

Puzur-Aslmr 
Ashurnadinakhe 

Ashuruballit 


Belnirari 
Pudilu 
Rammannirari  I. 

Shalmaneser  I 
Tuklat  Ninib  I. 
Ashurnatsirpal  I. 
Tuklat-Ashur-Bel 


Kadashmanburiash      

Gishammeti 

Shagaraktishuriash 

Bitiliashu  III. 

Belshumiddin 

Kadashmankharbe  II. 

Rammanshumiddin      Ashurnirari  I. 

Rammanshumutsur  II.   Belkudurutsur 

Melishikhu  Ninibapalekurra 

Merodaehbaladan  I. 

Zamamashumiddin     Ashurdan  I. 

Belnadinakhe 


Artatama 
Shutarna 

Dushratta 

HITTITES 

Sapalulu 

Maurasera 
Khatesera 


Moses 


Josliua 

Deborah 

Ehud 

Gideon 


XVI 


EARLY    ORIENTAL    KINGS 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE— IV. 


IV. 


1100 
1095 

1080  Mutakkil-Nusku 
1060  Ashurreshishi 
1040 

1023  Tiglathpileser  I. 
1001 

1000  Ashurbelkala 
988  Shamshi-Ramman 

980 

963  Ashurnatsirpalll. 

962 

959  Ashurirbi 

942  Tiglathpileser  II. 

940 


XXI. 

Khrikhor 
Nesbindedi 


Saamen 


Nebuchadrezzar  I.    Psukha'mne 
Belnadinabli  Pinozem 

Marduknadinakhe     Ameuemapti 
Mardukakheirba 
Mardukshapikzermate 
Nabunadin 
V. 
Shimmashshikhu 
Eamukinzer 
Kashshunadinakhe 
VI. 

Eulbarshakinshum 

Ninibkudurutsur 

Silanimshuqamuna   Shishak  I. 
VII. 

The  Elamite 

VIII.  Nabukinabli    Osorkon  I. 

Sharaashmudammiq  Takelot  I. 

Nabushumishkun 

Nabubaliddin  Osorkon  II 


(Rehob?) 
Hadadezer 


DAMASCUS 

Rezon  I. 


Psukha'mne 

XXII.  (XXIII)  (Hezion?) 


Marduknadinshum    Shishak  II. 


939  Ashurdan  II. 

933 

898  Rammannirari  II. 

898 

891  Tuklat-Ninib  II. 

885  Ashurnatsirpal  III 

860  Shalmaneser  II. 

844 

Mardukbalatsuikbi 

825  Shamshi-Ramman  Bauakhiddin 

812  Rammannirari  III. 

783  Shalmaneser  II.  IX. 

773  Ashurdan  III. 

755  Ashurnirari  II.       Nabushumishkun 

745  Tiglathpileser  III.  Nabunatsir  (747) 

740 


Tabrimmon 
Benhadad  I. 

Benhadad  II 


Takelot  II. 
Shishak  III. 

Pimai 
Shishak  IV. 


Hazael 


Benhadad  III. 
(Tabeel?) 


Rezon  II. 


EARLY    ORIENTAL    KINGS 


XV11 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE— IV.     (Continued) 

AMMON 


B.C.           JUDAH 

ISRAEL 

TYRE 

BDOM 

1100 

Abimelech 

Samlab 

1080 
1060 
1040 
1020 

Jepbthab 
Eli 

Samuel 

Saul 

Shaul 
Baalhanan 
Iladad  II. 

1000  David 
993 

Islihaal 
David 

Abibaal 

969 

Hiram  I. 

960  Solomon 

Solomon 

Hadad  III. 

Nahash 

I  i.'iiniii 


931  Rehoboam 

Jeroboam  I. 

Baalbazer 

915  Abijab 

Abdaslitart 

913  Asa 

Nadab  (910) 

Aslitart 

909 

Baasba 

Astharymos 

MOAB 

885 

Omri 

Phelles 

873  Jehosbaphat 

Ahab  (874) 

Ethbaal 

Ohemosbn 

853 

Ahaziab 

Baalazar 

Mesba 

849  Jehoram 

Joram  (852) 

Metten  I. 

842  Ahaziah 

842  Atbaliab 

Jehu 

837  Joasb 

815 

Jehoahaz 

Phygmalion 

798  Amaziah 

Jeboash  (799) 

790  Uzziah 

Jeroboam  II. 

(7S4) 

744 

Menahem 

Hiram  II. 

735 

Pekahiab 

Metten  II. 

Salamanu 

734  Ahaz 

Pekah 

733 

Iloshea 

Baasba 


Sanipu 


XV111 


EARLY    ORIENTAL    KINGS 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE— V. 


B.C. 

733 


BABYLON 

Nabushumiddin 


732  Nabushumukin 

732  X.  Ukinzer 

729  Tiglathpileser  III.  XXIV. 


ELAM 

Khumbani- 


727  Shalmaneser  IV. 

Shalmaneser  IV. 

Bokenrenf 

Shutur- 

Nakhundi 

722  Sargon  II. 

Merodachbaladan  II. 

XXV. 

709 

Sargon 

Shabako 

705  Sennacherib 

Mardukzakirshum 

704 

Merodachbaladan  II. 

Shabatako 

702 

Belibni 

699 

Ashurnadinshum 

Khalludush 

693 

Nergalushezib 

Kudur  Nak- 
hundi  III. 

692 

Mushezib-Marduk 

Tirhaqa 

Urnman- 

menanu 

689 

Sennacherib 

Khumbakhal 
dash  I. 

681  Esarhaddon 

Esarhaddon 

Esarhaddon 

Khumbakhal- 
dash  II. 

668  Ashurbanipal 

Shamashshumukin 

Ashurbanipal 

Urtaki 

647 

Ashurbanipal 

XXVI.  Psam- 
metik  I. 

Teumman 

625  Ashuretililani 

XI.  Nabopolassar 

MEDIA 

Sinshariskun 

Necho  II. 

Phraortes 

605 

Nebuchadrezzar  II. 

Cyaxares 

594 

Psammetik  II. 

588 

Hophra 

570 

Amasis 

562 

Evil-Merodach 

559 

Neriglissar 

556 

Labashi-Marduk 

A  sty  ages 

555 

Nabonidus 

Cyrus 

EARLY    ORIENTAL    KINGS 


XIX 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE— V.     (Continued) 
B.C.     JUDAII  tiki;  moab  ammon  edom 


710  Hezekiah 


701 


Luli 


Baal 


Chemoshnadab     Puduilu  Malikrammu 


G91  Manasseh 


G37  Anion 

636  Josiah 

606  Jehoahaz 

606  Jehoiakim     Etlibaal  II. 

.r)!)6  Jchoiachin 

596  Zedekiah 

Baal  II. 
Balator 
Merbaal 
Hiram  III. 


Mutsuri 


Chemosh- 

Ashtart  ? 


Qaushgabri 


Amminadab 


Baalis 


BIBLIOGRAPHY » 

The  following  abbreviations  are  used  : 
A  OF.     Winckler,  Altorientalische  Forschungen. 
BA.     Beitrage  zur  Assyriologie  u.  seniitische  Sprachwissen- 

sckaft. 
BOR.     Babylonian  and  Oriental  Becord. 
B  W.     Biblical  World. 

EB.     Encyclopaedia  Britannica  (ninth  edition). 
EBi.     Encyclopaedia  Biblica,  edited  by  Cheyne  and  Black. 
ET.     Expository  Times. 
GGA.     Gottingische  gelehrte  Anzeigen. 
HDB.     Hastings,  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 
JAOS.     Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society. 
J  A.     Journal  Asiatique. 
JBL.     Journal  of  Biblical  Literature. 
JQR.     Jewish  Quarterly  Review. 
MDP  V.     Mittheilungen  und  Nachrichten  des  deutschen  Pa- 

lastina-Vereins. 
MVG.     Mittheilungen  der  vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft. 
OLZ.     Orientalistische  Litteratur-Zeitung. 
PA  OS.     Proceedings  of  the  American  Oriental  Society. 
PEFQ.     Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  Quarterly  Statement. 
PSBA.     Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology. 
RA.    Bevue  d'Assyriologie  et  d'Archeologie  Orientale. 
RS.     Bevue  Semitique. 
SB  AW.     Sitzungsbericht   der    Berlinischen    Akademie    der 

Wissenschaften. 

1  Far  additional  titles  consult  the  Orientalistische  Bibliographic 
of  Scherman  and  the  Bibliography  of  Muss-Arnolt  appended  to  the 
American  Journal  of  Theology  and  American  Journal  of  Semitic 
Languages. 

XX 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxi 

SIVA  W.     Sitzungsbericht  dor  Wiener  Akademie  der  Wissen- 

schaften. 
TSDA.     Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology. 
WZKM.     Wiener  Zeitsehrii't  fur  die  Kunde  des  Morgenlandes. 
UAG.     Winckler,  Untersuchungen  znr  altorientalischen  Ge- 

schichte. 
ZA.     Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriologie  und  verwandte  Gebiete. 
ZA.     Zeitschrift  fur  t'igyptische  Sprache  u.  Altertumskunde. 
ZATW.     Zeitschrift  fur  die  alttestamentliche  Wissenschaft. 
ZDMG.     Zeitschrift  der  deutschen  niorgenliindischen  Gesell- 

schaft. 
ZDP  V.     Zeitschrift  des  deutschen  Pah'istina-vereins. 
Z  WT.     Zeitschrift  fur  wissenschaf tliche  Theologie. 

CHRONOLOGY 

Kamphausen,  Chronologie  der  Hebr.  Konige,  1883. 

Kkey,  "  Zeitrechnung  d.    Bticher  d.  Konige,"   ZWT.    1887, 

p.  404. 
Lehmann,  Zwei  Hauptprobleme  d.  altorient.  Chronologie,  1898. 
Mahler,  Bibl.  Chronologie  u.  Zeitrechnung  d.  Hebraer,  1887. 
de  Moor,   Essai  sur  les  enchainements  de  I'hisloire,  etc.,  1893. 
Marquabt,   Chronologische  Untersuchungen,  1900. 
Neteler,   Zusammenhang  d.  alttestament.   Zeitrechnung  mit  d. 

Pro/angeschichte,  1879-86. 
Niebuhr,  Die    Chronologie  der   Geschichte   Israels,    Aegyptens, 

Babyloniens,  unci  Assyriens,  1896. 
Rost,   "  Berossus  u.    die   babylonische  Konigsliste,"  MVG. 

1897,  2. 

RuHii,  "  Die  tyrische  Konigsliste  des  Menander,"  Rhein  Mvs. 
fur  Phil.,  1893,  p.  565  ;  "  Chronologie  der  Konige  von  Israel 
u.  Juda,"  Deutsch.  Zeitschr.  fur  Geschichlsioissenschaft,  1895, 
pp.  44,  171. 

Winckler,  "  Zur  babylonisch-assyrischen  Chronologie,"  UAG. 

1898,  p.  1. 


xxii  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ORIENT 

Archinakd,   Israel  et  ses  voisins  asiatiques,  1890. 

Ball,  Light  from  the  East,  1899. 

Boscawen,  La  Bible  et  les  monuments,  1900. 

Bovet,   Egypt,  Palestine,  and  Phoenicia,  1882. 

Brandes,  Abhandlungen  z.  Geschichte  des  Orients,  1874. 

Brugsch,  Steinschrift  und  Bibelwort,  1891. 

Brtjston,   Les  inscriptions  Assyriennes  et   V  Ancien    Testament, 

1873. 
Budinger,  Die  Universalhistorie  im  Alterthume,  1895. 
Delattre,  L'Asie  occidentale  dans  les  inscriptions  Assyriennes, 

1885. 
Delitzsch,    Wo  lag  das  Paradies  ?  1881. 

Ex  oriente  lux,  1898. 

Duncker,   Geschichte  des  Alterthums,  1878  f. 
Evetts,  New  Light  on  the  Bible  and  the  Holy  Land,  1891. 
Floigl,    Qeschichte  d.  semitischen  Alterthums  in  Tabellen,  1882. 
Gagnol,  Histoire  ancienne  des  peuples  de  V  Orient,  1898. 
von  Gutschmid,  Neue  Beitrcige  zur  Kunde  des  alien  Orients. 

Kleine  Schriften,  herausgegeben.  von  Riihl. 

Harper,   The  Bible  and  Modern  Discovery,  1890. 

Heilprin,  Historical  Reference  Book,  1898. 

Hilprecht,   Recent  Research  in.  Bible  Lands,  1897. 

Articles  on  "  Recent  Archaeological  Discovery"  in  the 

Sunday  School  Times,  1898  f. 
Hogarth  (editor),  Authority  and  Archaeology,  1899. 
Hommel,  Aufsdtze  und  Abhandlungen,  1892. 
Hommel,  Die  semitischen  Volker  und  Sprachen,  1883. 

Abriss  der  Geschichte  des  alien  Orients,  1895. 

Kenyon,    Our  Bible  and  the  Ancient  Monuments,  1897. 
Kralij,  Grundriss  der  altorientalischen  Geschichte,  i.,  1899. 
Laurie,  Assyrian  Echoes  of  the  Word,  1894. 
Lyon,  "  Sketch  of   Babylonian   and  Assyrian   History,  with 

Special  Reference  to  Palestine,"  B  W.     June,  1896. 
Lenormant,  Ancient  History  of  the  East,  1871. 


mi'.LHXilJAI'IlY  xvin 

Letronne,   Oeuvres  choisies. 

McGdrdt,   History,    Prophecy    and    the    Monuments,   3   vols., 

1894-1901. 
Maspero,   Histoire    Ancienne    des    Peuples  d' Orient,  3   vols., 

1895-99;     translated,     The    Daion    of    Civilization,    1895; 

The   Struggle   of   the  Nations,    1897 ;    The   Passing  of    the 

Empires,  1900. 
Meyer,  Geschichte  drs  Alterthums,  Band  i.,  1884. 
Muller,  A.,  Das  Alte  Testament  im  Lichte  der  neuesten  assyrisch- 

bdbylonischen  Entdeckungen,  1896. 
Muller,  W.  M. ,  Asien  u.   Europa  nach  altagyptischen  DenJc- 

mi'ilern,  1893.       See  the  review  by  Jensen  in  ZA.  x.  p.  320. 
Niebuhr,    Geschichte  des  ebraischen  Zeitalters,  1894. 
Nikel,  Herodot  und  die  Keilschriftforsehung. 
Nowack,    Die    assyrisch-babylonischen    Keilinschriften   u.    das 

A.T.,  1878. 
Oppenheeh,    Vom  Mittelmeer  zum  Persischen  Golf,  1899. 
Ploetz,  Auszug  aus  der  Geschichte,  1898. 
Prasek,  Forschungen  zur  Geschichte  des  Alterthums,  1897-98. 
Price,    The  Monuments  and  the  Old  Testament",  1900. 
Rassam,  Biblical  Lands,  1898. 
Rawlinson,    The  Seven  Great  Monarchies*,  1879. 

Egypt  and  Babylon,  1885. 

Satce,  Fresh  Light  from  the  Ancient  Monuments. 

Early  Israel  and  the  Surrounding  Nations,  1898. 

Schrader,  Die  Keilinschriften  u.  die  Gescliichtsforschung,  1878. 
Die  Keilinschriften  u.  das  Alte  Testament",  1883  ;  trans- 
lated,  The    Cuneiform   Inscriptions   and  the  Old  Testament, 

1885-88. 
Schafer,  Die  Entdeckungen  in  Assyrien  u.  Aegypten  in  ihrer 

Beziehung  zur  heiligen  Schrift,  1896. 
Tolman  and  Stevenson,  Herodotus  and  the  Empires  of  the  East. 
Urquhart,   Modern.  Discoveries  and  the  Bible,  1898. 
Vigoroux,  La  Bible  et  la  decouvertes  modernes,  1881. 
Wachsmuth,  Einleitung  in  das  Studium  der  alten   Geschichte, 

1895. 
Weiss,    Weltgeschichle,  Band  i.,  1898. 


xxiv  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Winckler,  Untersuchungen  zur  altorientalischen  Geschichte,  1889. 

Altorientalische  Forschungen,  i.-iii.,  1893-1900. 

Die  Vulker  Vorderasiens,  1899. 

Das  alte  Westasien,  in  Helmolt,  Weltgeschichte,  1899. 


HISTORY  OF  CIVILIZATION 

Baumgartner,   Geschichte  der  Weltliteratur,  Bd.  i.,  1897  f. 
Berger,  Histoire  de  Vecriture  dans  Vantiquite2,  1892. 
Billerbeck,  Der  Festungsbau  im  alien  Orient,  1900. 
Birch,  History  of  Ancient  Pottery,  1873. 
Bondi,    "  Gegenseitige   Kultureinfliisse  der  Aegvpter  u.  Se- 

miten,"  in  Festschrift  fur  Ebers,  pp.  1-7. 
Brown,  Researches   into    the    Primitive    Constellations   of   the 

Greeks,  Phoenicians,  and  Babylonians,  1900. 
Canina,  L' Architectura  antica  descritta  e  dimonstrata  coi  monu- 

menti,  6  vols. 
Choisy,  Histoire  de  V Architecture,  2  vols.,  1899. 
Conway,    The  Dawn  of  Art  in  the  Ancient  World. 
Durst,  Die  Rinder  von  Babylon,  Assyrien,  u.  Aegypten  u.  ihr 

Zusammenhang  mit  den  Rindern  der  alten  Welt,  1899. 
Fergusson,  History  of  Architecture,  3  vols. 

TJie    Temples   of  the  Jews   and  other  Buildings  of  the 

Haram  Area,  1878. 

Hommel,  Die  Semiten  u.  ihre  Bedeutung  fur  die  Gulturgeschichte, 

1881. 
Lehnert,  Morgenldndischer  Fraaenscfimuck,  1897-98. 
Lubke,    Grundriss    der  Kimstgeschichte12,    1899 ;    translated7, 

Outlines  of  the  History  of  Art. 

Geschichte  der  Architectur,  1875. 

Geschichte  der  Sculpt ur ;  translated,  History  of  Sculp- 
ture, 1878. 

Mitchell,  An  History  of  Ancient  Sculpture,  1883. 
Muller,    "Zur  iiltesten  Geschichte  des  Handelsverkehrs  im 
Rothen  Meer,"  MVG.  1898,  p.  148. 

"Zur  Geschichte  der  Metalle  in  Vorderasien,"  MVG. 

1898,  3,  p.  133. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxv 

(  )iinefalsch-Richter,  Kypros,  the  Bible,  and  Home?;  1893. 

Perrot  and  Cuii-n:/,  Hi&toire  tie  V Art  dans  VAntiquite;  trans- 
lated, A  History  of  Art  in  Antiquity,  1884-92. 

von  Reber,   History  of  Ancient  Art,  1882. 

Stuoken,  Astrahnylhen  der  Hebruer,  Babylon  ier  u.  Aegyptei; 
1898. 

Warren,  "The  Ancient  Standards  of  Measure  in  the  East," 
PEFQ.  July,  Oct.,  1899. 


HISTORY  OF  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA 

HoMMEii,    Gescliichte  Babyloniens  u.  Assyrians,  1885. 

Articles  on  "  Assyria"  and  "  Babylonia"  in  HDB. 

Kaulen,  Assyrien  u.  Babylonienb,  1899. 

King,  Articles  "Assyria"  and  Babylonia"  in  EBi. 

Mirdter-DeijITZsch,  Gescliichte  Babyloniens  u.  Assyriens",  1891. 

Radau,   Early  Babylonian  History,  1900. 

Rassam,  Asshur  and  the  Land  of  Nimrod,  1897. 

Rost,    "  Babylonien   u.    Assyrien    z.   Zeit   d.  3-8   Dynastie," 

M VG.  1897,  2. 
Rogers,  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  2  vols.,  1900. 
Sayce,  A  Primer  of  Assyriology,  1895. 
Smith,  G.,  History  of  Babylonia1,  1895. 

Assyria  from  the  Earliest  Times,  etc.,  1875. 

TlEiiE,  Babylonisch-assyrische  Geschichle,  1886-88. 

Winckler,    Gescliichte  Babyloniens  u.  Assyriens,  1892. 

"Die    politische    Entwickelung    Altrnesopotaniiens," 

A  OF.  i.  1. 

"  Zur  babyloniscb-assyrischen  Gescbicbte,"  A  OF.  i.  5. 

"  Stellung   der   Chaldiier   in   der   Gescbicbte,"   UAG. 


p.  47. 

Die  politische  Entwickelung  Babyloniens  u.   Assyriens, 


1900. 


Xxvi  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 


HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Brugsch,  Aegypten  writer  den  Pharaonen,  1877;  translated, 
.4  History  of  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  1881. 

Crum,  Article  "Egypt"  in  HDB. 

Ermax,  Aegypten  u.  dgyptisches  Leben,  1885-87;  translated, 
Life  hi  Ancient  Egypt,  1891. 

Krall,  Studien  zur  Gesch.  d.  alten  Aegyptens,  SWAW.  1890. 

Meyer,   Geschichte  des  alten  Aegyptens,  1-887. 

Muller,  Article  "  Egypt  "  in  EDi. 

Poole,  Article  "Egypt"  in  EB. 

Petrie,  History  of  Egypt,  i.,  1899;  ii.,  1896. 

Sethe,  Untersuchungen  z.  Gesch.  u.  Altertumskunde  Aegyptens,  i. 

Wiedemann,    Aegyptische  Geschichte,  1888. 

Geschichte  von  Alt-Aegypten,  1891. 


ARABIA 

Berger,  L'Arabie  avant  Mahomet  d?apres  les  Inscriptions,  1885. 
Burckhardt,    Bemerkungen   iiber  die    Beduinen   u.    Waheby, 

1831. 
Doughty,   Travels  in  Arabia  Beserta,  2  vols.,  1888. 
Glaser,  Skizze  der  Geschichte  u.  Geographie  Arabiens,  ii.,  1890. 
"Das    Alter    der    Minaiscken    Inschriften,"    MVG. 

1897,  3. 

"  Punt  u.  die  siidarabischen  Reiche,"  MVG.  1899,  2. 


Jacob,  Altarabisches  Beduinenleben,  1897. 

Smith,  W.  R.,  Kinship  and.  Marriage  in  Ancient  Arabia. 

Wellhahsen,  Reste  arabischen  Heidenthnms. 

Winckler,   "Musri,  Meluhha,  Ma'in,"  MVG.  1898,  1,  4. 

"  Das  nordarabische  Land  Musri,"  A  OF.  i.  1. 

"  Zur  Geschichte  des  alten  Arabien,"  A  OF.  i.  5. 


HIHUOCI,'  AI'IIV  XXWU 


HISTORY  OF  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

Baedecker,  Palastina  und  Syrien*,  VMM;  translated,  Pales- 
tine and  Syria,  L894. 

Buihj,   Geographie  des  alten  Palastina,  1896. 

Corpus  Inscriptionum  Semiticarum,  1881  ff. 

Goodspeed,  "Sketch  of  Canaanitish  History,"  BW.  June, 
1896. 

Lidzbarski,  Handbuch  der  nordsemitischen  Epigraphik,  1898. 
(Contains  an  exhaustive  bibliography  on  North-Semitic  in- 
scriptions.) 

Oort,  Atlas  voor  bijbelische  en  kerkelijke  Geschiedenis,  1884. 

Sayce,    The  Races  of  the  Old  Testament,  1891. 

Schwally,  "  Ueber  einige  palastinische  Vulkernanien," 
ZATW.  xviii.,  p.  12G. 

Smith,  G.  A.,   Historical  Geography  if  the  Holy  Land*,  1898. 

Soctn,  Article  "  Syria  "  in  EB. 

Soden,   Palastina  ami  seine  Geschichte,  1899. 

Ward,    "Early  Palestine,"  B  IF.  June,  1896. 

WrNCKLER,  "Die  semitischen  Wanderungen,  Das  Reich 
Damascus,"  in  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  pp.  114-132,  133-135. 


HISTORY  OF  ISRAEL 

Cornti/l,  History  of  the  People  of  Israel,  1898. 

Ewald,  Geschichte  des  \'i >//,■<:*  Israels3,  Bde.  vii.,  1864-68; 
translated,  History  of  the  People  of  Israel,  1869. 

Geaetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Bde.  iv. ,  1853-76;  translated, 
History  of  the  Jews,  vols,  v.,  1891-92. 

Guthe,    Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israels,  1899. 

Homtviel,  Ancient  Hebrew  Tradition  as  Illustrated  by  the  Monu- 
ments, 1897. 

Kent,  History  of  the  Hebrew  People,  1898. 

Kitteij,  Geschichte  der  Hebrder,  1888,  1892  ;  translated,  His- 
tory of  the  Hebreios,  1895-96. 

Klostermann,    Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israels,  1896. 


Xxviii  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Kohler,  Lehrbuch  der  biblisehen  Geschichte  Alten  Teslamentes, 

1875-93. 
Marquart,  Fundamente  israelit.  u.  judischer  Geschichte,  1897. 
Piefenbring,  Histoire  du  Peuple  Israel,  1898. 
Renan,  Histoire  du  Peuple  Israel,  1887-93 ;  translated,  History 

of  the  People  of  Israel,  1896. 
Sayce,   The  Early  History  of  the  Hebrews,  1897. 
Higher    Criticism   and  the   Verdict  of  the  Monuments*, 

1895. 
Stade,    Geschichte  des  Yolkes  Israel,  i.2,  1889  ;  ii.,  1888. 
Wellhausen,  De  gentibus  etfamiliis  Judaeis,  1870. 
Article  "  Israel,"  in  EB.  ;  reprint,  Sketch  of  the  History 

of  Israel  and  Judah,  1891. 
Israelitische  u.  jiidische  Geschichte3,  1897. 


Winckler,    Geschichte  Israels  in  Einzelndarstellung,  1895-1900. 
Alttestamentliche  Untersuchungen ,  1892. 


THE  HITTITES 

Campbell,    The  Hittites,  their  Inscriptions  and  their  History. 

Conder,  Heth  and  Moab,   1889. 

Altaic  Hieroglyphs  and  Hittite  Inscriptions,  1889. 

The  Hittites  and  their  Language,  1898. 

Hirschfeld,  Felsenreliefs  in  Kleinasien  u.  das  Volk  der  Hit- 

titer,  1887. 
Hommel,  "  The  Hittite  Inscriptions,"  ET.  May,  June,  July, 
1899. 

"  Hittiter  u.  Skythen,"  RS.  vi.  384. 

"  Notes  on  the  Hittite  Inscriptions,"  PSBA.  xxi.  99. 

Jensen,    "  Grundlagen  fur  eine   Entzifferung   der    (hatischen 

oder)  cilicischen(?)  Inschriften,"  ZDMG.  xlviii.,  pp.  235,  429. 
Hittiter  und  Armenier,  1898  ;  see  the  reviews  of  Brock- 

elmann,  GGA.  1899 ;  Hilprecht,   Biblia,  Aug.    1898  ;  Leh- 

mann,  ZDMG.   1900,   p.   541 ;  Messerschmidt,    OLZ.    Dec. 

1898 ;  Reckendorf,  ZA.  xl,  p.  1  f.  ;  Zimmern,  ZDMG.  lii. 

p.  168. 
"Religion  of  the  Hittites,"  S.  S.  Times,  xl.,  p.  299. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxix 

Jensen,    "The   Hittite   Inscriptions,"  ET.    Apr.   June,  Aug. 

Sept.,  1899. 
Karolides,  Die  sogenannten  Assyro-Chald/ier  u.  Hittiten   von 

Kleinasien,  1898. 
Lautsheeres,  De  la  rasse  et  da  la  langue  des  Hittites,  1891. 
Messerschmxdt,     Corpus    Inscriptionum    Hettiticarum,    MVG. 

1900,  4,  5. 

"  Hethitisches,"  OLZ.  Feb.  July,  Oct.  1899. 

"  Bemerkungen     z.     den     liethitischen     Inscbriften," 

MVG.  1898,  5. 
Muller,  MVG.  1896,  4  ;  "  Der  Gott  Sutech,"  OLZ.  Jul.  1898. 
Kamsay,  "Hittite  Decipherment,"  ET.  May,  Aug.  1899. 
Rylands,  "  Hittite  Inscriptions,"  PSBA.  xx.  233. 
Sayce,   The  Hittites,  1890. 

"The  Monuments  of  the  Hittites,"  TSBA.  1881. 

"  Hittite  Notes,"  PSBA.  xxi.  194. 


Selbie,   "  The  Hittite  Inscriptions,"  ET.  Sept.  1899. 

Ward,   "  Hittite  Gods  in  Hittite  Art,"  Amer.  Joum.  Archceol., 

iii.  1-37. 
Wright,   The  Empire  of  the  Hittites. 


MINOR  RACES  OF  PALESTINE 

Noldeke,  Die  Amalekiter,  1864  ;  article  "  Amalek  "  in  EBL 
WinckxlER,    "Midian  u.  Amalek,"  in  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  p. 

210. 
Cheyne,  "Amnion,"  in  EBi. 
Macpherson,   "  Amnion,"  in  HDB. 
WiNCKiiEB,  "Amnion,"  in  Geschichte  Israels,  i. ,  p.  213. 
Bernstein,   JJeber  den  Verfasser  der  Regententafel  von   Edom, 

1880. 
Buhl,    Geschichte  der  Edomiter,  1893. 
Marquakt,  "  Zur  Liste  der  Edomiterkonige,"  in  Fundamente 

israelitischer  u.jiidischer  Geschichte,  1897. 
Noldeke,  Article  "Edom,"  in  EBi. 
Sayce,  Article  "  Edom,"  in  HDB. 
Torrey,  "  The  Edomites  in  Southern  Judah,"  JBL.  1898,  p.  16. 


XXX  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Winckler,    "Eclom,"  in  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  p.  189. 

Bennett,  Article  "  Moab,"  in  HDB. 

Brunnow,  "  Keisebericbt  iiber  Ostjordanland,  Moab,  u.  Am- 
nion," MDPY.  1898,  pp.  49,  81. 

Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  1881. 

Schumacher,  Across  the  Jordan,  1886. 

Tristram,   The  Land  of  Moab,  1874. 

Winckler,    "Moab,"  in  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  p.  203. 

Beecher,  Article  "  Philistines,"  in  HDB. 

Hannecker,  Die  Philistder,  1872. 

MMller,  W.  M..  "  Chronologie,  Urlieimat,  usw.  der  Philis- 
ter,"  MVG.  1900,  1. 

Schwallt,   "  Die  Basse  der  Philister,"  ZWT.  1891,  1. 

Stark,   Gaza  u.  die  Philistaische  Kiiste,  1852. 

Winckler,  "  Die  Philister,"  in  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  p.  216. 

von  Gutschmid,  Article  "Phoenicians,"  in  EB. 

Jeremias,    Tyrus  his  zur  Zeit  Nebukadnezzars,  1891. 

von  Landau,  Die  Phonizier,  Das  alte  Orient,  ii.  4,  1901. 

Movers,  "  Phonizien,"  in  Ersch  u.  Grubers  Encyclopddie. 

Die  Phonizier,  1841-56. 

Pietschmann,    Geschichte  der  Phonizier,  1889. 

Bawlinson,  History  of  Phoenicia,  1889. 

Benan,  Mission  de  Phenicie,  1864. 

Winckler,  "  Zur  phonioisch  -  karthagischen  Geschichte," 
AOF.  i.  5. 


OLD  BABYLONIAN  PEBIOD 

Hilprecht,  Tlie  Babylonian  Expedition  of  the.  University  of 
Pennsylvania  :   Texts,  Series  A,  vol.  i.,  part  1,  1893. 

r>E  Sarzec-Heuzey,  Decouvertes  en  Chaldee,  1887  f. 

Thureau-Dangin,  "  Dungi,  roi  d'Ur  et  ses  successeurs," 
OLZ.  June,  1898. 

Winckler,  "  Die  siklbabylonischen  Dynastien,"  OLZ.  i.,  p. 
238. 

Sumer  u.  ATckad,  1887. 

"Die  altmesopotamischen  Beiche,"  UAG.,  p.  65. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xwi 

AMORITIC  PERIOD 

Boscawen,   "  Migration  of  Abraham,"  Proc.   Victoria  Institute, 

1896. 

"The  Letters  of  Khammnrabi,"  BOR.  viii. 

Jensen,  "  Die  Gotter  Amurru(u)  u.  Asratu,"  ZA.  xi.  302. 
Kino,   The  Letters  and  Inscriptions   of  Hammurabi,   3   vols., 

1898  f. 
Meissner,  Beitrage  zum  altbabylonischen  Privatrecht,  1893. 
Niebuhr,  "Die  erste  Dynastie  von  Babel,"  MVG.  1897,  3. 
Sayce,   Patriarchal  Palestine,  1895. 
Tomkins,   Abraham  and  his  Age,  1897. 
Winckler,   "  Die  Kanaam'ier  von  Lagash,"  A  OF.  ii.  2. 
"  Ur-Kasdim  als  Heimat  Abrahams,"  AOF.  i.  1. 

ON  GENESIS  XIV 

Driver,  ET.  Oct.  Dee.  1890  ;  Gray,  Expositor,  May,  1898  ; 
Hommel,  ET.  Nov.  1890  ;  Jastrow,  JQR.  Oct.  1900  ;  Johns, 
ET.  Aug.  ISO!) ;  Offord,  PSBA.  xxi..  p.  256  ;  Peiser,  MVG. 
1897,  4 ;  Wellhausen,  Lit.  Gentralblatt,  1898,  col.  1692 ; 
Winckler,  ^4  OF.  i.  1 ;  and  the  Commentaries  on  Genesis 
of  Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  Gnnkel,  and  Holzinger. 

PERIOD  OF  THE  XVIIITH  EGYPTIAN  DYNASTY 

Marquart,   "  Die  XVIII.  u.  XIX.  Dynastie  nach  Manetho,"  in 

Chr  analog  ische  Untersuehungen,  4. 
Mui/ler,   "Lander  des  ausersten  Nordostens  in  agyjjtischen 

Inschriften,"  OLZ.  1899,  p.  176. 
Niebxjhr,  "Zu  Napehnrias  roligiiiscr  Reform,"  OLZ.  Oct.  1900. 
Steindorff,  Die  Blutezeit  des  Pharaonenreichs,  1900. 
Torr,   Memphis  and  Mycence,  1896. 

Wiedemann,   Geschichle  der  XVIIIien  agyptischen  Dynastie. 
Winckler,   "Babyloniens   Herrschaft    in    Mesopotamien    u. 

seine  Eroberungen  in  Pali'istina  im  zweiten  Jahrtausend," 

A  OF.  i.  2. 
"Die  babylonische  Kassitendynastie,"  AOF.  i.  2. 


xxxii  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 


THE  TELL-EL-AMAKNA  LETTERS 

Bezold,    Oriental  Diplomacy,  1892. 

Budge  and  Bezold,  The  Tell-el-Amama  Tablets,  1892. 

Conder,    The  Tell  Amarna  Tablets,  1893. 

Delattre,  Le  pays  de  Chanaan,  province   de   Vancien  empire 

Egyptien,  1896. 
Halevy,  La  correspondance  d'Amenophis  III.  et  d'Amenophis 

IV.,  1899. 
Klosterjiann,  Ein  diplomatischer  Brief  wechsel  usw.,  1898. 
Lehmann,  Der  Fund  von  Tell-el-Amama. 
Niebuhr,  Die  Amama-Zeit,  Der  alte  Orient,  i.  2,  1899. 
Petrie,  Syria  and  Egypt  from  the  Tell-el-Amama  Letters,  1898. 
TieiiE,    West-Azie  in  het  licht  der  jongsten  ontdecking,  1893. 
Trampe,  Syrien  vor  dem  Eindringen  der  Israeliten,  1898. 
Vogel,  Der  Fund  von  Tell-Amama  u.  die  Bibel,  1898. 
Winckler,  D<>.r  Thontafelfund  von  El- Amarna,  1889-90. 
—  Die    Thontafeln   von    Tell-el-Amama,    Keilinschriftliche 

Bibliothek,  v.  ;  translated,   The  Tell-el-Amama  Letters,  1896. 

See  also  the  following  articles  in  reviews  :  Billeb,  Deutsch. 
evang.  Blatter,  1898,  6  ;  Boehmer,  Theologisches  Litter aturblatt, 
Sept.  21,  1900 ;  Ckeyne,  Nineteenth  Century,  Dec.  1891 ; 
Erman-Zimmern,  ZA.  vi.,  p.  250;  Halevy,  RS.  Oct.  1897; 
J  A.  1891  ;  Jastrow,  JBL.  1892;  Johnson,  JAOS.  xx.,  p.  244; 
Knudtzon,  BA.  iv.,  p.  101  ;  Meyer,  Festschrift  fur  Ebers,'1897, 
p.  62  ;  W.  M.  Midler,  OLZ.  Dec.  1898,  Apr.  1899,  Mar.  1899 ; 
ZA.  vii.,  p.  64;  Nicholson,  Queen's  Quarterly,  Oct.  1897; 
Niebuhr,  MVG.  1896,  4  ;  Offord,  PSBA.  1897,  p.  7  ;  Peiser, 
OLZ.  May,  July,  Sept.  Oct.  1898,  Jan.  1899  ;  Sayce,  Academy, 
Feb.  7,  1891 ;  Homiletic  Review,  May,  1897  ;  Records  of  the 
Past,  New  Series,  ii.  vi.  ;  Wiedemann-Delattre,  PSBA.  xv. ; 
Winckler,  MVG.  1896,  4  ;  1897,  3  ;'  OLZ.  ii.  col.  54 ;  Zimniern, 
ZDPV.  xvi.  146  ;  ZA.  vi.  154. 


mi'.uocK.U'iiY  xxxiii 


PERIOD  OF  THE  XIXTH  EGYPTIAN  DYNASTY 

Ebers,  Aegypten  u.  die  Bilcher  Moses,  1808. 

Erm  vn,   "  Der  Hiobstein,"  ZDP  V.  xv.  205-299. 

Hengstenbebg,  Aegypten  v..  die  Bucher  Moses,  1810;  trans- 
lated, Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses,  1850. 

Hervey,  "  Tlio  Sojourn  of  tho  Israelites  in  Egypt,"  Expositor, 
Dee.  1893. 

Kellogg,  Abraham,  Joseph,  and  Moses  in  Egypt,  1887. 

Sayce,    Egypt  of  the  Hebrews  and  Herodotus,  1895. 

Schalin,  Der  Aufenihalt  der  Israelites,  in  Aegypten,  1896. 

Schiele,   "War  Israel  in  Aegypten?"  ZWT.  1898,  1-20. 

Schumacher,  "  Der  Hiobstein,"  ZDPV.  xiv.,  p.  142. 

Toy,   "  Israel  in  Egypt,"  New  World,  Mar.  1893. 

Wright,    Was  Israel  Ever  in  Egypt  ?  1895. 

THE  ISRAEL  STELE  OF  MERENPTAH 

Brandt,  Theol.  Tijdschrift,  Sept.  1896;  Breasted,  B  W.  Jan. 
1897 ;  Burdick,  Biblia,  May,  1899  ;  Cooke,  Biblia,  May,  1897 ; 
Dawson,  ET.  Oct.  1896  ;  Deiber,  Revue  Biblique,  Apr.  1899 ; 
Halevy,  RS.  1896,  p.  285  ;  Hornmel,  ET.  Oct.  1896 ;  Molandre, 
Rev.  des  Religions,  Sept.  -Oct.  1897 ;  Mullens,  ET.  Mar.  1897 ; 
Naville,  Les  dernieres  lignes  da  la  stele  mentionnant  les  Israel- 
ites, 1898  ;  Orr,  Expositor,  Mar.  1897  ;  Offord,  PSBA.  1899,  p. 
142  ;  Petrie,  Contemporary  Rev.  May,  1896 ;  Sayce,  Academy, 
July,  1896;  Spiegelberg,  SB  AW.  1896,  p.  539;  ZA.  1896,  p. 
1;  Steindorff,  MDPV.  1896,  p.  45;  ZATW.  1896,  p.  330; 
Wiedemann,  Museon,  1898,  p.  1  ;  Maseon,  xvii.,  p.  89. 

THE  EXODUS  OF  ISRAEL 

Brown,   Tlie  Land  of  (ioshen  and  the  Exodus,  1899. 
Brugsch,   The  True  Story  of  the  Exodus  of  Israel,  1880. 
Ebers,  Durcli  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  1881. 
Giesebrecht,  Die  Geschichtlichkeit  des  Sinai-hundes,  1900. 
Hayman,  "  Gilead  and  Bashan,"  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  lv. ,  p.  29. 


XXXIV 


SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 


Hommel,    "  The  Pharaoli  of  the  Exodus,"  ET.  Mar.  1899. 
Lewis,   "The  Place  of  the  Exodus  in  the  History  of  Egypt,"' 

Scribner's  Mo.  Jan.  1894. 
Lieblein,  "L'Exode  des  Hebreux,"  PSBA.  xx.,  p.  277  ;  xxi. , 

p.  53. 
Mahler,  Der  Pharaoh  des  Exodus,  1896. 
Naville,   TJie  Store  City  of  Pithom  and  the  Route  of  the  Exodus, 

1885. 

Goshen  and  the  Shrine  of  Soft  el  Heneh,  1887. 

Nowack,  Die  Entstehung  der  israelitischen  Religion,  1896. 

Ore,    "  On  the  Exodus,"  ET.  Apr.  1897. 

Palmer,   The  Desert  of  the  Exodus. 

Prasek,   "  On  the  Question  of  the  Exodus,"  ET.  Mar.  Apr. 

June,  Aug.  1900. 
Sayce,  "Who  was  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus?"  Homiletic 

Rev.  Dec.  1899. 

' '  The  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,"  ET.  Apr.  1899. 

Schmidt,   "  Moses,  His  Age  and  His  Work,"  BW.  Jan.  Feb. 

1896. 
Stade,  Die  Entstehung  des  Volkes  Israel,  1897. 

PERIOD  OF  THE   JUDGES 

Blaikie,   "The  Part  of  Judah  in  the  Conquest  of  Canaan," 

ET.  Aug.  1894. 
Budde,  Kurzer  Hand-Commentar,  Richter,  1897. 
Conder,  "Notes  on  the  Antiquities  of  the  Books  of  Joshua 

and  Judges,"  PEFQ.  Apr.  1899. 
Meter,  E.,  "  Kritik  der  Berichte  iiber  die  Eroberung  Palas- 

tinas,"  ZATW.  1881,  p.  117. 
Moore,  International  Critical  Commentary,  Judges,  1895. 
Petrie,   "  The  Period  of  the  Judges,''  PSBA.  1896,  p.  243. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxxv 


PERIOD  OF  THE  HEBREW  KINGS 

Benzingek,  Die  Bucher  der  Konige,  1899. 

Dieulafoy,  he  Roi  David,  1897. 

Eisenlohr,  Das    I  '<>lk   Israel   uuter  der  Herrschaft  der  Konige, 

1855. 
Goodspeed,   "Assyrian  History  with  reference  to  Palestine," 

B  W.  June,  1897. 
Kittel,  "  Die  Biiclier  der  Konige,"  1900. 
Oppert,  Stdomon  et  ses  successeurs,  1877. 
Soerensen,  Juda  u.  die  assyrische  Weltmacht,  1885. 

See  also  the  works  of  Cornill,  Darmsteter,  Kuenen  and  W. 
R.  Smith,  on  the  Prophets ;  and  the  commentaries  of  G.  A. 
Smith,  on  the  Minor  Prophets  ;  Driver  and  Mitchell,  on 
Amos ;  Cheyne,  on  Hosea  and  Micah ;  Cheyne,  Delitzsch, 
Dillmann,  Duhm,  Kellner,  Marti,  Mitchell,  Skinner,  G.  A. 
Smith,  Strachey,  and  Orelli,  on  Isaiah ;  Davidson,  on  Nahum, 
Habakkuk,  Zephaniah  ;  Ball,  Bennett,  Giesebrecht,  and 
Streane,  on  Jeremiah ;  Bertholet,  Davidson,  Skinner  and 
Smend,  on  Ezekiel. 

THE  DISCOVERIES  AT  ZENJIRLI 

Clermont-Ganneau,  Receuil  d'archeologie  orientale,  1896-97 ; 
Hal6vy,  RS.  1899,  p.  333;  Jastrow,  B  W.  June,  1894;  Lu- 
schan,  Ausgrabungen  in  Sendschirli,  1893  ;  Midler,  WZKM. 
1896,  p.  193;  vol.  vii.,  pp.  33,  113;  Contemporary  Rev.  Apr. 
1894;  Niebuhr,  OLZ.  Nov.  Dec.  1898;  de  Peralta,  Ausgra- 
bungen in  Sendschirli,  1898  ;  Sachau,  Mittheilungen  aus  den 
orientalischen  Sammlungen  zu  Berlin,  ix.  ;  SB  AW.  1896; 
Winckler,  A  OF.  i.  1 ;  MVG.  1896,  4,  p.  22. 

THE  NEW  BABYLONIAN  PERIOD 

Billerbeck-Jeremias,    "Der  Untergang  Nineves,  etc.,"  BA. 
ii.,  p.  87. 


XXXvi  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Budinger,  Der  Ausgang  des  Medischen  Eeiches,  etc. 
Friedrich,  "  Nineves  Ende  u.    der  Ausgang  des  assyrischen 

Reiches,"   in   Festgaben    z.    Ehren    31.    Biidingers,    p.    15, 

1898. 
Lincke,  Assyrien  u.  Nineveh  in  Geschichte  u.  Sage  nach  607, 

1894. 
Messerschmtdt,   "  Die  Inschrift  des  Stele  Nabuna'ids,"  MVG. 

1896,  1. 

Thomas,  "  Ninevehs  Ende  u.  die  Ausgange  des  assyrischen 
Reiches,"  in  Festgaben  z.  Ehren  31.  Budingers,  1898,  p.  13. 

Oppert,  "  Eclaircissements  sur  quelques  points  relatifs  a  la 
derniere  periode  de  l'empire  Assyrien,"  Comptes  Rendus, 
1897. 

Winckler,   "Die  Meder  u.  der  Fall  Nineves,"  AOF.  i.  2. 


SYRIA   AND    PALESTINE 

CHAPTER.  L     . '.  '. ...     . 

THE    EARLIEST    tNHABITANTS 

For  the  earliest  period  of  the  history  of  Syria  and 
Palestine,  as  for  many  of  the  later  periods,  there  are 
no  native  sources  of  information.  Venerable  as  are 
the  traditions  preserved  in  the  Old  Testament  Script- 
ures, they  do  not  reach  back  farther  than  the  time  of 
the  Patriarchs ;  and,  in  the  light  of  recent  archaeo- 
logical research,  this  is  comparatively  modern  his- 
tory. Systematic  excavations,  such  as  have  been 
carried  on  for  years  in  Egypt  and  in  Assyria,  have 
never  been  undertaken  in  S}rria  or  in  Palestine,  and 
the  few  explorations  that  have  been  made  have 
yielded  no  inscriptions  that  throw  light  on  their  early 
history.  They  are  divided  by  geographical  config- 
uration into  small  isolated  districts,  in  which  petty 
independent  states  have  arisen,  but  no  great  nations 
with  stable  civilizations.  Where  such  nations  do  not 
exist,  there  is  no  motive  for  the  erection  of  historical 
monuments. 

But,  although  these  lands  have  had  no  independent 
political  development,  they  have  been  the  channel 

1 


2  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

through  which  the  trade  of  the  ancient  world  has 
passed,  and  have  been  the  prize  over  which  the  an- 
cient empires  have  fought.  Consequently,  the  lack  of 
native  records  is  made  good  to  some  extent  by  state- 
ments in  the  monuments  of  Egypt  and  of  Babylonia. 
Here,  unfortunately,  our  sources  are  extremely  scanty. 
The  Egyptians  of  the  old  empire  had  a  Chinese-like 
scorn  of  all  that  was  foreign,  which  not  only  impelled 
them  to  avoid  relations  -with  other  nations,  but  also 
to  ignore  in  their  inscriptions  such  relations  as  actu- 
ally existed.  The  Babylonian  sources  are  somewhat 
fuller,  still  even  here  we  have  to  be  content  with 
chance  references  in  documents  that  treat  in  the  main 
of  wholly  different  subjects.  The  best  that  the  his- 
torian can  do  is  to  gather  these  scattered  items ;  and 
then,  with  the  aid  of  hypothesis  and  inference  from 
later  conditions,  endeavour  to  construct  a  picture  of 
the  most  ancient  period.  Such  a  picture  must  of 
necessity  be  incomplete,  and  may  at  any  moment  be 
shown  to  be  incorrect  by  further  archaeological  dis- 
coveries. 

At  the  earliest  period  disclosed  to  us  by  the 
Egyptian  and  the  Babylonian  records  Syria  and  Pal- 
estine were  already  inhabited  by  Semites,  that  is,  by 
a  race  ethnologically  and  linguistically  allied  to  the 
Hebrews.  This  is  proved  by  the  Semitic  names  for 
Syrian  places  and  Syrian  articles  of  commerce  in 
Egyptian,  and  also  by  representations  of  Asiatics 
upon  the  monuments.  As  early  as  the  time  of 
Sneferu,  the  first  king  of  the  IVth  Egyptian  dy- 
nasty (c.  3216  B.C.),  the  natives  of  the  Sinaitic  Pen- 
insula are  depicted  with  an  unmistakably  Semitic 


THE    EARLIEST    I  MIA  I ! IT. \ NTS  3 

cast  of  countenance ;  and  on  the  tomb  of  Ptahliotep, 
which  belongs  to  the  same  period,  the  same  is  true  of 
a  number  of  Egyptian  mercenary  troops.1  From  these 
facts  we  may  infer  that  the  Semites  were  in  possession 
of  the  lands  bordering  on  the  eastern  end  of  the  Medi- 
terranean as  early  as  the  fourth  millennium  B.C.,  but 
it  is  not  safe  to  conclude  that  they  were  the  primitive 
inhabitants.  The  oldest  Egyptian  and  Babylonian 
records  do  not  reach  back  farther  than  3500  B.C.,  and 
in  earlier  unknown  antiquity  many  races  may  have 
preceded  the  Semites. 

That  the}r  were  not  aboriginal  is  probable  from  a 
variety  of  considerations.  The  fact  that  all  the 
branches  of  this  race,  Assyro-Babylonian,  Canaanitic, 
Aramaean,  Sabooan,  Ethiopic,  and  Arabian,  are  closely 
similar  to  one  another,  both  in  physiological  structure 
and  in  language,  points  to  their  being  descendants  of 
a  single  primitive  stock  ;  and  the  original  home  of  this 
stock  was  probably  Arabia.2 

That  Arabia  should  have  sent  forth  many  succes- 
sive waves  of  migration  is  natural,  when  one  con- 
siders the  physical  characteristics  of  this  region.  It 
has  a  vast  area,  larger  than  the  whole  of  the  fertile 
territory  occupied  by  the  Semites.  It  is  capable  of 
producing  immense  bodies  of  population,  but  for 
these  it  yields  only  a  scanty  sustenance.  The  bulk 
of  its  inhabitants  are  nomads,  and  when  pasture  be- 

1  See  Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  293  f. ;  Maspero,  Struggle 
of  the  Nations,  p.  149. 

-  This  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  Semites  is  now  commonly  ac- 
cepted ;  there  are,  however,  scholars  who  still  maintain  that  the 
primitive  home  of  the  Semites  was  Central  Asia,  or  even  Africa. 


4  SYEIA    AND   PALESTINE 

comes  scarce  the  stronger  tribes  crowd  the  weaker  to 
the  wall  and  compel  them  to  seek  new  abodes.  There 
is  thus  a  constant  tendency  to  overflow  into  the  adja- 
cent fertile  regions.  When  the  nomads  come  peace- 
fully, they  are  speedily  absorbed  into  the  settled 
population.  When  they  come  in  war,  they  are  beaten 
back  for  a  time  by  the  superior  arms  of  the  civilized 
communities,  until  the  pent-up  flood  of  humanity  be- 
comes so  great  that  no  power  can  restrain  it.  Then 
it  bursts  its  dams,  and  pours  over  all  the  neighbouring 
regions.  This  process  has  repeated  itself  frequently 
within  historic  times,  notably  in  the  great  Aramaean 
migration,  which  about  1500  B.C.  overflowed  Western 
Asia,  and  in  the  Arabian  migration  of  the  seventh 
century  a.d.,  so  that  it  is  only  natural  to  suppose 
that  it  went  on  also  in  prehistoric  times. 

The  earliest  archaeological  remains  in  Syria  and 
Palestine  belong  to  the  stone  age ;  but  the  Semites, 
as  comparative  philology  shows,  must  have  reached 
a  higher  stage  of  civilization  than  this  before  their 
separation  from  one  another.  These  antiquities,  ac- 
cordingly, will  have  to  be  assigned  to  a  pre-Semitic 
race.  Moreover,  a  number  of  ancient  names  of  places 
admit  of  no  Semitic  etymology.  These  may  naturally 
be  regarded  as  survivals  of  pre-Semitic  nomenclature. 

An  ethnological  type  strikingly  different  from  the 
Semitic  has  been  found  in  Syria  and  Palestine  from 
the  earliest  times.  The  Semite,  as  we  see  him  on  the 
Egyptian  and  the  Assyrian  monuments  and  in  mod- 
ern Arabia,  has  a  dark  olive  complexion  and  thick, 
black,  curly  hair;  but  alongside  of  this  type  the 
Egyptian  monuments  show  also  a  fair-skinned,  red- 


TIIK    KAKUKST    INHABITANTS  5 

haired  race.  The  oldest  Hebrew  tradition '  recognized 
Japhet,  «.e.,  probably  ''the  fair,"  as  the  brother  of 
Canaan  and  Shein ;  that  is,  as  part  of  the  earliest 
population  of  Palestine.  Traces  are  not  wanting  in 
the  Old  Testament  of  the  continued  existence  of  this 
red-haired  type  among  the  Hebrews  ;  David,  for  in- 
stance, was  "  ruddy  and  fair."  2  Red  hair  is  seen  even 
now  among  the  Jews,  and  a  blond  type  is  not  infre- 
quent in  modern  mountain  villages  of  Syria.  It  is 
well  known  that  descendants  of  mixed  races  do  not 
show  a  composite  type,  but  tend  to  revert  to  one  or 
other  of  the  primitive  types;  consequently  the  facts 
just  stated  seem  to  indicate  an  early  blending  of  Se- 
mitic invaders  with  a  diverse  aboriginal  population. 

To  the  pre-Semitic  race  are  to  be  attributed  the 
megalithic  monuments  that  have  been  found  in  large 
numbers  east  of  the  Jordan  3  and  less  frequently  west 
of  the  Jordan.  Some  of  these  belong  to  a  relatively 
late  period,  as  is  shown  by  the  copper  implements 
discovered  near  them  ;  but  the  majority  go  back  to 
the  stone  age.  They  consist  of  menhirs,  or  solitary 
upright  stones ;  dolmens,  or  table-like  structures 
formed  by  placing  a  flat  slab  upon  two  uprights ; 
and  cromlechs,  or  stone  circles.  Monuments  similar 
to  these  have  been  found  in  Western  Europe,  in 
Northern  Africa,  and  at  various  points  around  the 
Mediterranean.  This  has  led  to  the  not  improbable 
theory  that  the  aboriginal  population  of  Syria  and 

1  Gen.  ix.  25-27  (J,  written  probably  in  the  ninth  century  b.c.  in 
Judaea). 

-  1  Sam.  xvii.  42. 

3  See  Schumacher,  The  Jdnlan,  p.  12:'.  aq. 


6  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Palestine  belonged  to  a  blond  race  of  European 
origin,  the  so-called  Kelto-Libyan  race,  which  once 
occupied  the  entire  coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  Pe- 
trie's  discoveries  in  Egypt1  have  proved  that  the 
dynastic  Egyptians  were  preceded  by  a  fair-haired 
people  that  was  ethnologically  allied  to  the  ancient 
Libyans  and  to  the  modern  Kabyles  of  the  moun- 
tains of  Algeria.  This  people  forms  the  connecting 
link  between  the  Syrian  aborigines  and  their  western 
kindred. 

Frequent  attempts  have  been  made  to  identify  the 
primitive  population  of  Syria  and  Palestine  with  the 
Hittites,  the  Amorites,  or  some  other  race  later  oc- 
cupying these  regions ;  none  of  these  theories,  how- 
ever, rests  upon  a  sound  scientific  basis.  The  primi- 
tive race  of  Syria,  whatever  it  was,  did  not  survive  in 
any  of  the  later  historic  peoples.  Where  it  was  not 
exterminated,  it  was  absorbed  in  the  waves  of  Se- 
mitic migration,  leaving  no  trace  except  in  its  impres- 
sion upon  the  racial  type  of  its  successors. 

The  earliest  migration  of  Semites  known  to  history 
is  that  which  peopled  the  lower  valleys  of  the  Eu- 
phrates and  Tigris  and  which,  for  lack  of  a  better 
name,  is  known  as  the  "Babylonian."  How  early 
this  migration  took  place  can  only  be  conjectured. 
A  Semitic  civilization  was  already  in  full  bloom  in 
Babylonia  by  3500  B.C.  This  civilization  remained 
practically  unchanged  down  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era.  It  must,  therefore,  have  taken  a  con- 
siderable time  for  it  to  develop.2 

1  Petrie,  Naqada  and  Ballas,  1895. 
2Winckler,  Altorientalische  Forschiuigen,  i.  79. 


THE    EARLIEST    INHABITANTS  7 

Peril aps  some  clue  to  the  date  of  this  migration  is 
afforded  by  observing  the  intervals  which  have  elapsed 
between  the  later  historical  migrations.  The  Moham- 
medan expansion  took  place  after  a.d.  662  ;  and  the 
earlier  Nabataean,  about  500  B.C.  The  Aramaean 
movement  was  at  its  height  about  1500  B.C.  The 
previous  migration,  which  we  may  designate  provi- 
sionally as  the  Amoritic-Canaanitic,  must  have  oc- 
curred about  2500  B.C.  Thus  it  appears  that  it  took 
a  thousand  years  each  time  to  fill  Arabia  up  to  the 
point  when  it  could  no  longer  hold  its  inhabitants  but 
must  disgorge  them  upon  the  adjacent  lands.  This 
would  give  us  3500  B.C.  as  an  approximate  date  for 
the  first  entry  of  the  Semites  into  Babylonia.1 

Now  the  question  arises,  whether  this  Babylonian 
Semitic  migration  was  so  wide-spread  that  it  affected 
Syria  and  Palestine  also.  That  this  was  the  case 
is  probable  from  the  analogy  of  later  movements  of 
population.  The  Mohammedan  conquest  extended 
from  India  to  Spain.  The  earlier  Arabian  invasion 
was  held  more  in  check  by  the  strong  arm  of  civiliza- 
tion, still  it  affected  all  the  lands  bordering  on  the 
desert.  The  Aramaean  migration  changed  the  char- 
acter and  the  language  of  the  entire  population  of 
Western  Asia.  As  we  shall  see  later,2  the  Amo- 
ritic  -  Canaanitic  overflow  was  no  less  extensive. 
It  is  difficult,  accordingly,  to  think  that  the  earliest 
known  Semitic  expansion  did  not  include  Syria  and 
Palestine  as  well  as  Babylonia.  The  causes  that  led 
the  nomads  to  spread  in  one  direction  must  have  led 
them  to  spread  in  all  directions,  and  the  hordes  that 

1  See  Winckler,  Geschichte  Israels,  p.  128.  2  Pages  2G  ff. 


8  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

were  able  to  overcome  the  highly  civilized  Sumerians 
would  have  no  difficulty  iu  conquering  the  less  civil- 
ized inhabitants  of  the  lands  west  of  the  desert.1 

Of  the  wide  spread  of  the  Babylonian  Semites 
there  are  a  number  of  evidences.  The  Assyrians, 
who  dwelt  far  to  the  north,  spoke  the  same  language 
as  the  dwellers  on  the  lower  Euphrates  and  shared 
the  same  civilization.  The  people  of  Guti  in  Media 
and  of  Lulubi  in  modern  Kurdistan,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  inscriptions  of  their  kings  dating  from  the 
time  of  Sargon  I.  (c.  2750  B.C.),  also  spoke  the 
Babylonian  language.  About  the  same  time  that  the 
Babylonians  entered  Sumerian  territory  the  dynastic 
Egyptians  entered  Egypt.  It  is  difficult  not  to  re- 
gard these  two  migrations  as  part  of  a  single  great 
movement.  The  Semites,  pushing  out  in  all  direc- 
tions, crowded  before  them  the  people  of  Punt  (South- 
west Arabia  or  Northeast  Africa)  and  compelled 
them  to  crowd  in  their  turn  the  Libyan  population 
of  the  Nile  valley.  From  Syria  and  Palestine  we 
unfortunately  have  as  yet  no  contemporary  records, 
still  the  presence  of  Babylonian  Semites  in  these 
regions  is  rendered  probable  by  the  close  political 
relations  which,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter, 
the  early  monuments  show  to  have  existed  between 
Babylonia  and  the  West. 

In  regard  to  these  early  inhabitants  of  Palestine, 
our  oldest  sources  of  information  are  the  Egyptian 
monuments  of  the  Hid  and  the  IVth  dynasties  (c. 
3430-2939  B.C.).  The  presence  of  Asiatic  products, 
such  as  cedar  wood,  copper,  lead,  and  iron,  and  of 
1  Winckler,   Volker  Vorderasiens,  p.  15. 


THE    EARLIEST    I  \  II .MUTANTS  y 

European  products,  such  as  tin  and  amber,  shows  that 
a  brisk  trade  with  the  outer  world  must  have  been 
kept  up  even  under  the  old  empire,  but  this  trade 
seems  to  have  been  left  wholly  to  foreigners.  The 
ancient  Egyptians  were  an  un warlike  people,  whose 
army  was  composed  of  mercenaries,  and  for  centuries 
they  attempted  no  conquests.  Characteristic  of  their 
mental  attitude  is  the  erection  of  the  frequently  men- 
tioned "  Wall  of  the  Princes  "  to  keep  out  the  Bedawin 
of  the  northeastern  desert.  Under  these  circum- 
stances it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  their  monuments 
will  yield  much  information  in  regard  to  tribes  or 
places  outside  of  Egypt. 

The  only  exception  to  an  anti-expansion  policy  was 
the  working  of  mines  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula.  From 
these  the  early  kings  derived  copper,  turquoise,  and 
other  precious  minerals ;  and  to  keep  possession  of 
them  they  were  obliged  to  maintain  garrisons  and  to 
make  frequent  military  expeditions.  The  peninsula 
was  known  as  Mafk,  i.e.,  "Malachite-land."  The  in- 
habitants were  called  Mentu,1  a  name  of  which  the 
etymology  is  uncertain.  They  were  also  known  as 
Inti,  "cave-dwellers,"2  Pedate-su,  "bowmen  (bar- 
barians) of  the  desert,"  3  and  Sopdu,  i.e.,  "  belonging 
to  the  god  Sopd." 4 

The  treasures  gathered  from  the  mines  roused  the 
cupidity  of  the  wild  Semitic  tribes  living  in  the  neigh- 

1  Rock  inscription  of  Sahura  (c.  2900). 
8  Inscription  of  Khvfu  (c.  3180). 

3  List  of  the  Nine  Nations. 

4  Pyramid  of  Unas  (c.  2750).  See  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa, 
pp.  11-34. 


10  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

bourhood  and  led  them  to  make  frequent  attacks  upon 
the  garrisons.  When  these  attacks  became  formid- 
able, the  Pharaoh  sent  an  expedition  to  chastise  the 
offenders  and  to  restore  order.  The  earliest  recorded 
expedition  of  this  sort  was  that  of  Neter-kha,  who 
carved  a  brief  inscription  that  still  remains  near  the 
mines  upon  the  rocks  of  the  Wady  Maghara.  This 
king  is  apparently  identical  with  Zeser,  whose  name 
stands  in  lists  of  the  Hid  dynasty,  and  who  reigned 
about  3400  B.C.  His  inscription  is  the  oldest  known 
Egyptian  historical  document.  No  other  expedition 
is  mentioned  until  the  time  of  Sneferu,  the  first  king 
of  the  IVth  dynasty  (c.  3216),  who  also  erected  a 
tablet  in  the  Wady  Maghara.  A  bas-relief  represents 
him  seizing  a  bearded  Semite  by  the  hair  and  slaying 
him  with  a  club,  while  an  accompanying  inscription 
gives  the  names  and  the  titles  of  the  king.  Khufu 
(Cheops),  the  successor  of  Sneferu  and  builder  of  the 
great  pyramid  (c.  3187),  also  carved  a  relief  in  the 
Wady  Maghara,  representing  him  slaying  Bedawin 
captives  in  the  presence  of  the  gods  Thoth  and  Anu- 
bis.  The  Pharaohs  of  the  Vth  dynasty  (c.  2939-2721), 
Sahura,  Raenuser,  andDadkara,  erected  similar  memo- 
rial tablets.  A  fresco  of  this  period  depicting  the 
capture  of  a  city  may  indicate  that  military  operations 
were  pushed  as  far  as  Palestine,  but  apart  from  this 
there  is  no  evidence  that  this  dynasty  attempted  more 
than  the  subjugation  of  the  Sinaitic  peninsula. 

The  Vlth  dynasty  (c.  2721-2540)  was  the  most  vig- 
orous dynasty  of  the  old  empire.  Its  monuments  are 
more  numerous  and  are  more  widely  distributed  than 
those  of  any  of  its  predecessors.     Meryra  (Pepy  I.), 


THE   EABLIEST   INHABITANTS  H 

its  third  king,  not  only  chastised  the  Mentu  of  Sinai 
and  recorded  his  triumph  after  the  manner  of  the 
earlier  monarchs,  but  also  sent  expeditions  into  the 
interior  of  Palestine.  This  is  known  from  the  oldest 
consecutive  Egyptian  history  that  has  come  down  to 
us,  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Una  (c.  2680). '  The 
portion  of  this  inscription  which  refers  to  these  ex- 
peditions (lines  13-32)  reads  as  follows : 

"  Thereupon  His  Majesty  made  war  with  the  'Amu 
(Asiatics),  the  Heru-sha  (Bedawin),  and  gathered  an  army  of 
many  tens  of  thousands  out  of  all  the  South  from  beyond 
Elephantine  and  northward,  from  the  fork  (?)  of  the  Nile,  out 
of  the  north-land,  out  of  the  temple-estates,  out  of  the  for- 
tress (?),  from  within  the  fortresses  (?),  from  the  negro-lands 
of  'E'rtaet,  Meda,  'Eman,  Uauat,  Kaau,  and  Tateam.  His 
Majesty  despatched  me  at  the  head  of  this  army.  In  it  were 
the  princes ;  in  it  were  the  chief-treasurers ;  in  it  were  the 
nearest  friends  (?)  of  the  palace ;  in  it  were  the  chiefs  and  the 
governors  of  the  cities  of  the  south  and  of  the  north,  the 
friends  and  the  superintendents  of  the  gold,  the  chief  prophets 
of  the  south  and  of  the  north,  and  the  suj:>erintendents  of  the 
temples  (?),  at  the  head  of  a  troop  out  of  the  south  and  out  of 
the  north,  out  of  the  cities  and  the  towns  over  which  they 
ruled,  together  with  the  negroes  of  these  lands.  I  was  their 
leader  (?)  although  my  office  was  only  that  of  superintendent 
of  the  royal  garden  (?).  Each  of  these  carried  with  him  as 
much  (provision)  as  another.  Each  of  them  stole  dough  and 
sandals  from  the  traveller  upon  the  way.  Each  of  them  seized 
goats  from  everybody.  I  led  them  to  the  northern  island  to 
the  gate  of  Yhotep,  to  the    .    .    .    of  Horus,  the  Lord  of  truth. 

1  Erman,  "  Commentar  zur  Insehrift  des  Una,"  Zeitschrift  fur 
rif/i/ptische  Sprache,  1882,  pp.  1-29 ;  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p. 
522 ;  Maspero,  Dawn  of  Civilization,  p.  419 ;  Birch,  Records  of 
the  Past,  ii.,  p.  Iff.;  Maspero,  Records  of  the  Past,  New  Sei'ies,  ii., 
pp.  11  ff. 


12  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

While  I  was  in  this  city  I  reviewed  (?)  these  troops,  although 
no  other  servant  (of  the  king)  had  reviewed  (?)  them  before- 
hand. Thereupon  this  army  came  successfully,  and  cut  to 
pieces  the  land  of  the  Heru-sha.  The  army  came  successfully, 
and  destroyed  the  land  of  the  Heru-sha.  The  army  came 
successfully,  and  cast  down  their  strongholds  (?).  The  army 
came  successfully,  and  cut  down  their  fig-trees  and  their 
vines.  The  army  came  successfully,  and  set  on  fire  all 
their  .  .  .  The  army  came  successfully,  and  slew  many 
thousands  of  their  troops.  The  army  came  successfully,  and 
brought  back  a  great  multitude  of  them  captive.  For  this 
His  Majesty  rewarded  me  beyond  measure.  Five  times  His 
Majesty  sent  me  to  command  the  army,  to  invade  the  land  of 
the  Heru-sha  each  time  that  they  revolted.  This  I  did  in 
such  a  way  that  His  Majesty  praised  me  beyond  measure. 
When  it  was  reported  that  there  was  a  revolt  (?)  of  these  bar- 
barians in  the  land  of  .  .  .  then  I  sailed  on  .  .  .  ships 
with  these  troops.  I  sailed  to  the  farthest  ...  of  the 
highland  in  the  north  of  the  land  of  the  Heru-sha.  Since  this 
expedition  had  ...  on  the  way,  I  smote  them  all  and  slew 
every  rebel  (?)  among  them." 

The  name  'Amu  (Asiatic),  which  occurs  for  the 
first  time  in  this  inscription,  has  been  compared  with 
the  biblical  Ham  and  with  the  Hebrew  word  '  am, 
"  people ; "  but  more  probably  it  is  derived  from  an 
Egyptian  root  and  means  "  boomerang-throwers."  1 
In  the  earliest  Egyptian  monuments  the  Bedawin  are 
frequently  represented  armed  with  boomerangs.  'Amu 
is  here  coupled  with  the  epithets  Heru-sha,  "  sand- 
dwellers,"  and  Sti,  "  archers,  barbarians,"  which  shows 
that  it  must  have  been  applied  first  to  the  nomads  of 
the  Sinaitic  desert  and  afterward  have  been  extended 
to  remoter  peoples.     In   this   inscription   Heru-sha 

1  See  Miiller,  p.  123. 


THE    EARLIEST    [NHABITANTS  13 

alone  is  used  repeatedly  for  the  inhabitants  of  Pales- 
tine ;  and  as  Una  declares  that  he  destroyed  their 
vines  and  their  fig-trees  and  that  he  sailed  far  to  the 
north,  it  is  evident  that  the  name  must  already  have 
lost  its  primitive  meaning  as  early  as  the  Vlth 
dynasty  and  have  become  nothing  more  than  a 
synonym  of  'Amu  and  a  general  designation  for 
"  Asiatics." 

This  invasion  of  Palestine  is  the  first  of  which  any 
record  has  come  down  to  us  in  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments. It  gives  an  interesting  glimpse  into  the 
manner  of  raising,  officering,  and  provisioning  an 
army.  It  shows  the  transportation  of  troops  both  by 
sea  and  by  land,  and  it  proves  that  the  population  of 
Palestine  at  this  early  date  practised  agriculture ; 
beyond  this  it  is  tantalizingly  deficient  in  details. 

The  other  inscriptions  of  the  old  empire  yield  little 
historical  information.  All  Asiatics  they  compre- 
hend under  the  general  name  of  Shasu,  "plunderers," 
without  troubling  themselves  about  the  political  sub- 
divisions of  the  barbarians.  They  give  us  none  of 
the  native  names  of  the  conquered  peoples,  but  only 
descriptive  titles  invented  by  the  Egyptians  them- 
selves; they  tell  us  nothing  about  their  language  or 
their  civilization  ;  consequently,  they  throw  but  little 
light  upon  the  ethnology  or  the  early  history  of 
Palestine. 


CHAPTEE   II 

THE   OLD    BABYLONIAN   SUPREMACY 

3200-2500  b.c. 

The  oldest  extant  cuneiform  records  show  that  as 
early  as  the  fourth  millennium  B.C.  the  controlling  in- 
fluence in  the  civilization  and  in  the  politics  of  Syria 
and  Palestine  was  exercised  by  Babylonia.  Ur-Nina, 
the  founder  of  the  dynasty  of  Lagash  (c.  3200), 1  relates 
that  he  brought  cedar  wood  for  his  temples  from 
Ma'al.  The  nature  of  the  importation  and  the  analogy 
of  later  kings  lead  us  to  conjecture  that  Ma'al  was 
situated  in  Mount  Lebanon  or  Mount  Amanus.  If 
so,  Babylonian  commerce  with  Syria  was  older  than 
has  commonly  been  supposed.  The  location  of  this 
region,  however,  is  still  uncertain. 

The  first  king  who  is  known  positively  to  have 
maintained  relations  with  the  West  is  Lugalzaggisi 
(c.  2920).  He  has  left  the  longest  and,  from  our 
point  of  view,  the  most  interesting  inscription  of  the 
early  Babylonian  monarchs.  It.  was  engraved  on  one 
hundred  vases,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  temple  of 
Enlil  at  Nippur,  and  which  were  found  by  the  Amer- 
ican expedition  broken  into  small  pieces  and  cast 
out  as  rubbish.      Hilprecht  has   succeeded  in   dis- 

1  See  chronological  table,  p.  vii. 
14 


TIIL    OLD    BABYLONIAN    SUPREMACY  15 

criminating  eighty  -  eight  inscribed  fragments  that 
belonged  to  sixty-four  of  these  vases,  and  in  recon- 
structing from  them  almost  completely  the  three 
columns  of  the  original  text.  From  this  document 
we  derive  the  astonishing  information  that  the  em- 
pire of  Lugalzaggisi  was  as  extensive  as  that  of  the 
great  Assyrian  kings  2,000  years  later.  His  own 
words  are  as  follows  : 

•'When  Enlil,  king  of  the  lands,  gave  Lugalzaggisi  the 
kingdom  of  the  world  and  granted  him  success  before  the 
world,  when  He  placed  the  lands  under  his  power  and  subdued 
(them)  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  setting  of  the  sun; 
at  that  time  He  straightened  his  path  from  the  Lower  Sea  of 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates  to  the  Upper  Sea.  Enlil  caused 
his  hands  to  receive  gifts  (?)  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the 
setting  of  the  sun,  (and)  caused  the  lands  to  dwell  in  peace."1 

From  this  it  is  clear  that  Lugalzaggisi  reigned  from 
the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  He  is 
the  only  early  king  who  states  explicitly  that  he  ruled 
over  Syria,  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  all  the  other 
monarchs  who  obtained  the  hegemony  of  Babylonia 
in  the  fourth  millennium  exercised  a  similar  authority. 
For  the  confirmation  of  this  theory,  however,  we  must 
await  further  monumental  discoveries. 

After  Lugalzaggisi  we  have  no  record  of  Baby- 
lonian rule  in  the  West  until  the  time  of  Shargani- 
sharali,  king  of  Agade  (c.  2770),  an  interval  of  nearly 
200  years.  According  to  the  inscriptions  published 
by  Thureau-Dangin,2  Sharganisharali  conquered  not 

1  Hilprecht,    Old   Babylonian    Inscriptions,  ii.,  p.    53;    Radau'. 
Early  Bab.  Hist.,  p.  135. 
!  Comptes  Rendus,  189G,  p.  355  ff.,  and  Revue  d'Assyriologie,  iv.  3. 


16  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

only  Babylonia,  Elani,  and  Guti,  but  also  Martu. 
Whether  this  last  name  is  an  ideogram,  or  is  to  be 
read  phonetically,  we  do  not  know.  In  later  texts  it 
is  equivalent  to  Amurru,  "  the  land  of  the  Amorites," 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  was  the  case  in 
these  early  times,  or  that  Martu  is  derived  from 
Amur-tu.1  If  the  name  be  read  phonetically,  the 
most  natural  comparison  is  with  the  "land  of 
Moriah"  mentioned  in  Gen.  xxii.  2.  In  any  case 
Martu  designates  the  region  at  the  eastern  end  of  the 
Mediterranean. 

The  identity  of  Sharganisharali  with  Sargon  (Shar- 
ukin),  the  father  of  Naram-Sin,  whose  record  Na- 
buna'id  discovered  in  rebuilding  a  temple  at  Sippar, 
was  long  doubted,  but  has  been  established  by  recent 
discoveries.2  Accordingly,  we  may  supplement  the 
monuments  with  the  statements  of  an  omen-tablet 
discovered  at  Nineveh.  This  purports  to  give  the 
signs  under  which  Sargon  and  Naram-Sin  undertook 
their  campaigns.  The  document  is  written  in  As- 
syrian and  was  designed  to  furnish  precedents  for 
Ashurbanipal,  still  it  must  have  been  based  upon  a 
Babylonian  original,  since  it  is  inconceivable  that  its 
contents  should  have  been  invented  by  the  Assyrian 
astrologers.  The  omens  are  recorded  under  which 
Sargon  conquered  Elam,  Katsala,  and  Suri  (Mesopo- 
tamia). Four  times  it  is  stated  that  Sargon  invaded 
the  land  of  Martu  (Syria).  In  connection  with  one 
of  these  expeditions  we  read  : 

1  This  theory  is  advocated  by  Professors  Hommel  and  Sayce. 

2  Heuzey,  Revue  cV  Assyriologie,  iv.,  pp.  8,  11;  Radau,  Early 
Baby'onian  History,  p.  7. 


THE    OLD    BABYLONIAN    SUPREMACY  17 

"  Sargon  went  up  to  ...  ,  bis  terror  he  (spread)  over 
(the  land)  ;  the  sea  of  the  setting  sun  he  crossed  ;  three  years 
at  the  setting  of  the  sun  he  conquered  (the  lands)  and  made 
them  of  one  accord  ;  his  statue  at  the  setting  of  the  sun  he 
set  up  ;  their  prisoners  he  transported  over  land  and  sea." 

These  statements  were  once  thought  to  be  merely 
a  legendary  echo  of  the  exploits  of  the  Assyrian  king 
Sargon  II.  ;  but  now,  in  view  of  the  recently  dis- 
covered monumental  evidence  of  the  wideness  of  the 
first  Sargon's  conquests,  they  are  generally  conceded 
to  be  historical.  They  open  up  a  wonderful  vista 
into  the  history  of  the  ancient  Orient.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  millennium  all  of  Western  Asia  was 
ruled  by  a  single  monarch.  Syria  must  have  been 
completely  under  his  control,  or  he  would  not  have 
ventured  to  cross  the  sea  and  attempt  more  distant 
conquests. 

Naram-Sin,  the  son  of  Sargon  (2750),  entitles  him- 
self in  his  inscriptions  "king  of  Agade,  king  of  the 
four  quarters  of  the  earth."  The  omen-tablet  men- 
tioned above  contains  two  items  in  regard  to  his  con- 
quests ;  one  that  he  marched  to  Apirak  and  took 
captive  Eish-Eainman  its  king,  the  other  that  he 
conquered  Magan  (Eastern  Arabia)  and  took  its  king 
captive.  The  historical  character  of  the  latter  ex- 
pedition is  strikingly  confirmed  by  an  inscription 
reading,  "  Naram-Sin,  king  of  the  four  quarters  ;  a 
vase,  the  spoil  of  Magan."  Of  further  victories  we 
have  no  record,  since  the  omen-tablet  breaks  off  at 
this  point.  That  Naram-Sin  maintained  the  empire 
of  his  father  in  the  West  is  probable  in  view  of  his 
conquests  in  other  regions  and  of  the  magnificence  of 


18  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

his  undertakings  at  Nippur.  An  inscription  with  a 
portrait  discovered  at  Diarbekr  shows  that  he  ruled 
the  district  of  Suri  (Mesopotamia),  where  Sargonhad 
won  triumphs  before  him.  An  indirect  evidence  that 
his  rule  extended  even  beyond  the  sea  is  furnished 
by  a  cylinder-seal,  discovered  by  Cesnola  in  Cyprus, 
which  bears  the  inscription,  "  Abil-Ishtar  (?),  son  of 
Ilu-Bani,  servant  of  the  god  Naram-Sin."  The  char- 
acters of  this  inscription  are  of  a  later  period  than 
that  of  Naram-Sin,  still  it  indicates  that  this  monarch 
was  deified  and  that  his  cult  long  persisted  in  Cyprus. 
His  apotheosis  seems  to  have  taken  place  even  dur- 
ing his  lifetime,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  seal  on  a 
document  sent  to  Lugalushumgal,  patesi  of  Lagash, 
which  reads,  "  The  god  Naram-Sin,  god  of  Agade, 
Sharru-Ishdagal,  the  scribe,  thy  servant."  *  Naram- 
Sin  is  the  first  Babylonian  monarch  to  claim  divinity. 
The  assumption  proves  the  greatness  of  his  empire 
and  may  also  indicate  the  beginning  of  contact  with 
Egyptian  thought. 

Soon  after  the  dynasty  of  Agade  the  seat  of  author- 
ity shifted  once  more  to  South  Babylonia,  and  with 
Ur-Gur  a  second  dynasty  of  Ur  came  upon  the  scene. 

Contemporary  with  Ur-Gur  was  Gudea,  patesi,  or 
"viceroy,"  of  Lagash  (c.  2650),  whose  name  has  been 
immortalized  by  the  discoveries  of  De  Sarzec  at  Telloh. 
This  ruler  devoted  his  energy  to  the  building  and  the 
adornment  of  the  temple  of  the  god  Ningirsu.  In 
his  effort  to  secure  rare  and  precious  materials  he 
carried  on  an  extensive  commerce  with  the  East  and 
with  the  West,  of  which  he  has  left  an  extraordinarily 

1  Revue  d'Assyriologie,  iv.  3,  p.  76. 


THE    OLD     HAIiYLOMAX     SI   I'l;  |]\l  ACY  19 

full  account  in  his  monuments.     The  chief  passage 
reads  as  follows  :  a 

"  When  he  (Gudea)  built  the  house  of  Ningirsu  ;  Ningirsu, 
his  beloved  king,  opened  his  way  from  the  Upper  Sea  to  the 
Lower  Sea.  In  Amanum,  the  mountain  of  cedars,  he  pro- 
cured cedars  whose  length  was  twenty-five  cubits,  cedars 
whose  length  was  fifty  cubits,  urkarinu-trees  whose  length 
was  twenty-five  cubits,  and  brought  them  down  out  of  their 
mountains.  .  .  .  These  cedars  he  made  into  doors.  He 
covered  them  with  metal  plates  and  set  them  up  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Eninnu.  In  Imakhkia  its  sigdi(da)  he  employed  as 
beams.  In  Ursu,  in  the  mountain  of  Ibla,  he  cut  down  zabanu- 
trees,  great  cedars,  tuhibu-trees,  trees  of  the  mountain  AD-KU, 
and  made  of  them  beams  in  the  temple  of  Eninnu.  From  Sha- 
manu,  the  mountain  of  the  land  of  Minu,  from  Subsalla  (?),  the 
mountain  of  Martu,  he  brought  great  blocks  of  stone,  dressed 
them  as  building-stone,  and  built  of  them  the  platform  (?)  in 
the  temple  of  Eninnu.  From  Tidanum,  the  mountain  of 
Martu,  he  brought  alabaster  (?)  in  its  KIR,  and  made  it 
into  urpadda  and  employed  as  bolts  (?)  for  the  house.  In 
Kagalad-(ki)  (?),  the  mountain  of  Kimash,  he  dug  copper 
and  made  it  into.  .  .  .  From  the  land  of  Melukhkha  he 
brought  ushu-wood  and  made  it  into  boards  (?),  he  brought 
(copper).  .  .  .  Gold,  the  dust  of  the  land,  he  brought  from 
the  mountain  of  Khakhum,  and  made  it  into.  .  .  .  Gold, 
its  dust,  he  brought  from  the  land  of  Melukhkha,  and  made  it 
into  imaruru.  .  .  .  From  Gubin,  the  land  of  the  khalub- 
trees,  he  brought  khalub-tvees  and  made  them  into  .  . 
From  the  land  of  Madga,  the  mountain  of  the  river  Galuruda, 
he  brought  .  .  .  and  built  the  platform  (?)  of  the  temple 
of  Eninnu.  .  .  .  From  the  mountains  of  Barsip  he  filled 
great  ships  with  nalua-stone     .     .     .     the  foundation  of  the 

1  Gudea  B,  col.  v.  1,  21;  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  iii.  1,  p. 
32  f . ;  Winckler,  Altorient.  Forschungen,  ii.  2,  p.  398;  Amiaud, 
Records  of  the  Past,  New  Series,  ii.,  pp.  79  f. ;  Price,  The  Great 
Cylinder  Inscriptions  A  and  B  of  Gudea. 


20  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

temple  of  Eninnu.  The  arms  of  Anshan  in  Elam  he  defeated 
and  dedicated  its  booty  to  Ningirsu  in  Eninnu.  Gudea,  patesi 
of  Lagash,  when  he  built  the  temple  of  Ningirsu,  made  it  a 
treasure  house." 

In  addition  to  this,  Gudea  states  that  he  brought 
dolerite  for  his  statues  from  Magan,  and  ships  laden 
with  all  sorts  of  wood  from  Magan,  Melukhkha, 
Gubin,  and  Dilmun. 

The  location  of  a  number  of  these  places  is  doubt- 
ful, still  enough  are  known  to  make  it  clear  that  the 
commercial  operations  covered  a  large  area.  The 
"Upper  Sea"  is  unquestionably  the  Mediterranean, 
and  the  "Lower  Sea"  is  the  Persian  Gulf.  Amanum 
is  the  classical  Amanus,  the  modern  Taurus  chain  be- 
tween Syria  and  Cilicia;  Martu  is  Syria  ;  Melukhkha 
is  Western  Arabia  ;  Magan  is  Eastern  Arabia  ;  Dil- 
mun is  an  island  in  the  Persian  Gulf  ;  and  Elam  is 
the  region  to  the  east  of  Babylonia.  As  Jensen  has 
pointed  out,1  a  natural  geographical  order  is  followed 
in  the  enumeration  of  the  regions  whose  location  is 
certain.  This  leads  to  the  conjecture  that  the  same 
order  is  followed  in  the  case  of  the  other  regions. 
Applying  this  principle,  he  identifies  the  names  as 
follows :  Ursu  is  the  modern  Arsus,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Gulf  of  Iskanderian ;  and  Ibla  is  the  clas- 
sical Pieria,  the  first  mountain-chain  to  the  south  of 
Amanum.  Shamanu  is  Mount  Cassius,  and  Minu  is 
the  North  Syrian  region  Menus  mentioned  in  the 
later  Egyptian  records.  Subsalla  is  Mount  Lebanon, 
Tidanum  is  the  Anti-Lebanon,  and  Kagalad-(ki),  the 
mountain  of  Kimash,  is  Hermon. 

1  Zeitschrift  fiir  Assyriologie,  x.,  p.  361. 


Ashtrolh  Karnaim 

REPHAIM 
ZUZIM 


[ARU 

}  HORITES 

AMALEK 

,  En  Mishpat 


,Bela 

<humurti((iomorrah) 

EMIM 

>Kar8hi(Heres) 


SHASU 


SYRIA  AND  PAUESTINE 

BEFORE 
2000     15.  C. 


THE    OLD    BABYLONIAN    SUPREMACY  21 

Only  in  the  case  of  Anshan  in  Elam  does  Gudea 
record  military  operations.  The  word  ag-ag  which 
he  uses  ordinarily  means  simply  "  make,  get,"  and 
contains  no  suggestion  of  conquest.  As  patesi,  or 
"vassal-king,"  ho  could  not  have  led  expeditions 
against  these  remote  regions.  Accordingly,  we  must 
assume  that  all  the  products  used  in  the  erection  of 
the  temple  were  acquired  by  peaceful  traffic.  It 
gives  one  a  high  opinion  of  the  civilization  of  West- 
ern Asia  in  the  third  millennium  to  find  that  building- 
materials,  precious  metals,  and  minerals  could  be 
procured  and  be  transported  safely  from  the  remotest 
regions  to  gratify  the  taste  of  a  petty  provincial  ruler. 
Gudea's  dealings  are  merely  one  instance  of  a  trade 
that  must  have  flowed  through  all  parts  of  the  Baby- 
lonian world.  The  possibility  of  such  commerce  is 
the  best  proof  of  the  historicity  of  the  conquests  of 
Naram-Sin,  Sargon,  and  their  predecessors.  Strong 
hands  must  have  held  the  reins  of  government  for 
many  generations  before  the  distant  tribes  through 
whose  territory  Gudea's  treasures  passed  learned  to 
respect  the  rights  of  traders  ;  and  Ur-Gur,  his  su- 
zerain, must  have  been  a  mightier  monarch  than  his 
scanty  inscriptions  would  lead  us  to  infer. 

In  regard  to  the  successors  of  Ur-Gur  in  the  dy- 
nasty of  Ur,  our  chief  source  of  information  is  a  tab- 
let which  has  been  reconstructed  skilfully  by  Thureau- 
Dangin  :  from  a  number  of  fragments  of  duplicates. 
It  not  only  establishes  the  true  succession  of  the 
monarchs  of  this  dynasty,  but  also  seems  to  prove  that 
there  was  but  one  king  of  the  name  of  Dungi.     He 

1  Orientalistische  Litteratur-Zeitung,  June,  1898. 


22  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

at  first  assumed  the  titles  of  his  predecessor,  "king 
of  Ur,  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad ;  "  but  later  he 
added  "  king  of  the  four  quarters."  This  apparently 
corresponds  with  a  gradual  extension  of  his  authority. 
The  tablet  just  mentioned  contains  the  statement, 
"  the  year  in  which  he  raised  his  daughter  to  the  rank 
of  lady  of  Markhashi."  Markhashi  can  hardly  be 
anything  else  than  the  modern  Mar  ash,  a  city  located 
at  the  foot  of  the  Taurus  range  whence  Gudea  fetched 
his  cedars.  Commercial  relations  apparently  were 
strengthened  by  the  marriage  of  a  princess  of  Ur  to 
the  sovereign  of  this  remote  region.  Another  year 
Dungi  married  a  daughter  to  the  patesi  of  Anshan, 
a  district  to  the  east  of  Babylonia.  Four  years  were 
marked  by  victorious  expeditions  against  Simuru. 
Twice  he  devastated  Karkhar,  Kharshi,  and  Khu- 
murti,  and  once  Anshan,  Shashru,  Lulubu,  Urbillu, 
and  Kimash.  Simuru  is  doubtless  Simyra,  the  mod- 
ern Sumra,  a  city  on  the  North  Syrian  coast.  Kar- 
khar seems  from  its  association  with  Simuru  and 
Kimash  to  have  been  a  region  of  the  West,  but  its 
exact  location  is  unknown.  Kharshi  may  be  com- 
pared with  Heres,  or  Kir  Heres  (the  modern  Kerak), 
the  later  capital  of  Moab  and  its  chief  stronghold. 
Khumurti  is  the  phonetic  equivalent  of  'Amorah, 
Gomorrah.  Kimash,  which  is  identified  by  Jensen 
with  Hermon,  has  been  mentioned  already  in  con- 
nection with  Gudea.  From  these  references  it  is 
clear  that  Dungi  held  sway  over  an  empire  as  great 
as  that  of  Sargon  and  Naram-Sin.  For  the  most 
part  the  relations  throughout  this  domain  were 
peaceful,  but  now  and  then  a  revolt  in  some  remote 


THE    OLD    BABYLONIAN    SUPREMACY  23 

district  necessitated  the  armed  intervention  of  the 
king.  The  administration  appears  to  have  been  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  Assyrian  monarchs  2,000  years 
later. 

Bur-Sin,  Dungi's  successor,  maintained  the  su- 
premacy of  Ur  and  conquered  the  refractory  prov- 
inces of  Urbillu,  Shashru,  and  Khukhnuri. 

Gimil-Sin,  the  next  king,  subdued  Simanu,  which 
probably  is  the  same  as  Shamanu  of  the  land  of 
Minu,  from  which  Gudea  brought  building-stone l 
and  also  Zabsali,  which  apparently  is  the  same  as  the 
Subsalla  of  Gudea.2  One  year  of  his  reign  has  the 
extraordinary  comment,  "year  in  which  he  con- 
structed the  wall 'of  Martu  (the  west?)  called  Muriq- 
Tidnim."  Whatever  this  may  mean,  it  is  evidence  of 
the  importance  of  Syria  for  early  Babylonia.  The 
combination  of  Martu  and  Tidanum  is  the  same  that 
we  meet  in  Gudea.3  Scanty  as  these  historical  items 
are,  the}'  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  dynasty  of  Ur 
wielded  a  power  as  great  as  that  of  any  of  its  prede- 
cessors. 

Our  survey  of  the  earliest  monuments  of  Babylonia 
makes  it  clear  that  from  at  least  3000  to  2500  B.C.  Syria, 
and  probably  Palestine  also,  stood  under  the  rule  of 
Babylonian  monarchs.  Politically  as  well  as  ethno- 
logically  they  formed  an  integral  part  of  the  ancient 
Babylonian  world.  Whichever  city  held  the  hege- 
mony on  the  Euphrates  assumed  as  a  matter  of 
course  the  government  of  the  West.  With  the  fall  of 
the  second  dynasty  of  Ur  this  supremacy  came  to  an 
end.  For  300  years  Babylonia  was  wasted  by  foreign 
1  See  page  19.  5  See  page  20.  3  See  page  19. 


24  SYEIA    AND   PALESTINE 

invasion  and  by  internal  strife.  Ont  of  this  turmoil 
came  a  new  order  of  things,  in  which  the  city  of 
Babylon  became  the  mistress  of  Western  Asia.  This 
transition  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  period  of 
our  history. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   AMORITIC  MIGRATION 

2500-2230  it.c. 

About  2500  B.C.  a  second  wave  of  Semitic  migration 
poured  out  of  Arabia  and  overflowed  Babylonia.  Evi- 
dence of  this  is  found  in  a  new  type  of  proper  names 
that  suddenly  makes  its  appearance.1  Among  the 
kings  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon  and  in  contract- 
tablets  of  the  same  period  names  occur  in  which  the 
deity  is  designated  as  'Abi,  "my  father,"  or  'Ammi, 
"  my  paternal  uncle."  These  formations  are  not  Baby- 
lonian, but  are  characteristic  of  the  Canaanitic  group 
of  languages  (Hebrew,  Phoenician,  Moabitic,  Ammo- 
nitic,  etc.).  Thus,  in  a  contract-tablet  of  the  time  of 
Apil-Sin  the  name  Abi-ramu  occurs,2  which  is  identical 
with  the  Hebrew  Abiram  and  Abram.  Ebishum,  the 
eighth  king  of  dynasty  I.,  is  written  in  the  contract- 
tablets  Abi-e-shukh,  which  is  the  etymological  equiva- 
lent of  the  Hebrew  Abishua.  Three  of  the  kings  of  dy- 
nasty I.  bear  names  compounded  with  'Ammi — name- 
ly, 'Ammisatana,  'Aininisadugga,  and  Khammurabi, 

1  Pognon,  Journal  Asiatique,  1888,  pp.  543-547;  Hommel,  Zeit- 
schrift  d.  deittsch.  morgenldnd.  GeselL,  xlix.,  pp.  522  ff„ ;  Ancient 
Hebreiv  Tradition,  Chap.  III. ;  Sayce,  Early  History  of  the  He- 
brews, Chap.  I. ;  Winckler,  Altorient.  Forschungen,  ii.  39G-400. 

5  Meissncr,  Beitrage  zum  altbabylonischen  Privatrecht,  No.  111. 
p.  91. 

25 


26  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

whose  name  is  also  found  written  'Ainmurabi.1  "With 
these  we  may  compare  the  Hebraeo-Canaanitic  'Am- 
mi'el,  'Ammihud,  'Ammizabad,  'Amminadab,  and  'Am- 
mishaddai.  That  the  Babylonians  themselves  regard- 
ed names  of  this  type  as  foreign  is  shown  by  a  list  in 
which  Khammurabi  and  'Ammisadugga  are  translated 
into  their  Babylonian  equivalents.2 

Two  kings  of  the  first  dynasty,  Sumu-abi  and  Sumu- 
la-ilu,  bear  names  compounded  with  Sumu,  as  in  the 
Hebrew  name  Samu-el.  There  are  a  number  of  names 
of  this  period  in  which  the  imperfect  third  person  sin- 
gular of  the  verb  is  formed  with  a  prefixed  ya,  as  in 
Hebrew  and  Arabic,  and  not  with  prefixed  i,  as  in 
pure  Babylonian.  Here  belong  Ya'qub-ilu  (Heb. 
Ya'aqob-el,  "Jacob-god"),  Yamlik-ilu,  Yarbi-ilu, 
Yashub-ilu  (perhaps =Yosef-el,  "Joseph-god"),  Yak- 
bar-ilu,  Ya'zar-ilu. 

Additional  evidence  of  a  foreign  invasion  is  found 
in  letters  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon,  which,  ac- 
cording to  Winckler,3  are  as  full  of  Canaanitic  idioms 
as  are  the  Amarna  letters. 

That  this  migration  was  not  limited  to  Babylonia  is 
proved  by  the  ancient  Minoean  inscriptions  which  Ha- 
levy  and  Glaser  have  discovered  in  South  Arabia.  The 
names  found  in  these  are  of  precisely  the  same  types 
as  those  that  we  have  just  discussed.  Thus  the  Mi- 
naean  Ammi-tsaduqa  is  the  same  as  Ammisadugga, 
and  the  Minsean  Ili-yada'a,  Ili-sami'a,  and  Abiyathu'a 
are  the  same  as  the  Hebrew  Eliada,  Elishama,  and 

1  Sayce,  Early  History  of  the  Hebrews,  p.  13. 
3  Hommel,  Ancient  Hebrew  Tradition,  p.  88. 
z  Altorientalische  Forschmigen,  ii.  1,  p.  94;  ii.  2,  p.  396. 


THE    AMOKITIC   MTC.IIATION  27 

Abislma.  All  this  shows  either  that  the  new  Semitic 
migration  which  entered  Bab}7lonia  came  from  South 
Arabia,  or  that  both  Babylonia  and  South  Arabia  were 
invaded  from  a  common  centre. 

The  Egyptian  monuments  bear  witness  that  the  val- 
ley of  the  Nile  also  was  overrun  by  Semites  at  the  same 
time  when  Babylonia  was  invaded.  The  'Amu,  against 
whom  Una  contended,  were  apparently  the  forerun- 
ners of  a  great  racial  movement.  From  the  end  of 
the  Vlth  Egyptian  dynasty,  which  was  nearly  con- 
temporaneous with  the  end  of  the  second  dynasty  of 
Ur,  to  the  beginning  of  the  Xlth  dynasty  there  is 
an  almost  complete  blank  in  the  history  of  Egypt. 
The  Pharaohs  of  Memphis  gradually  lost  their  control 
over  the  provinces,  and  were  finally  compelled  to  re- 
treat toward  the  South,  and  to  establish  a  new  king- 
dom at  Herakleopolis.  It  is  the  same  phenomenon 
that  we  meet  in  Babylonia  after  the  end  of  the  sec- 
ond dynasty  of  Ur,  political  dissolution  caused  by  the 
entrance  of  large  bodies  of  alien  population.  At  last, 
about  the  same  time  that  kings  with  foreign  names 
appeared  in  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon,  a  foreign 
Pharaoh  seated  himself  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt. 
Khyan  (c.  2224)  is  entitled  on  his  scarabs  and  cylin- 
ders "  lord  of  the  desert,"  which  is  the  title  given  to 
the  chief  of  the  thirty-seven  Bedawin  whose  visit  to 
Egypt  in  the  reign  of  Usertesen  II.  is  depicted  on  the 
tomb  of  Khnumhotep  at  Beni  Hassan.1  The  name 
Khyan  has  been  compared  with  Kha-ya-nu,  a  king  of 
northern  Syria  in  the  time  of  Shalmaneser  II.2 

1  Petrie,  History  of  Egypt,  i.,  p.  120. 

2  Hilpreeht,  Assyriaca,  i.,  p.  130. 


28  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Two  of  the  kings  who  followed  Khyan  bore  the 
names  Uazed  and  Yaqeb-her.1  These  are  not  Egyp- 
tian but  Semitic,  and  since  Egyptian  r  takes  the  place 
of  Semitic  I,  Yaqeb-her  is  the  equivalent  of  Yaqub- 
ilu,  "  Jacob-god,"  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  found  in 
a  contract-tablet  of  the  time  of  the  first  dynasty  of 
Babylon. 

Canaan  also  was  affected  by  this  Semitic  migration, 
as  is  shown  by  two  proper  names  of  this  period.  In 
the  Romance  of  Sinuhit,  which  dates  from  the  reign  of 
Amenemhat  I.  (c.  2000),  the  name  of  the  chief  of  Tenu 
is  written  Am-mue'en-shi.  This  name  is  to  be  read 
Ammi-anshi  and  is  generally  regarded  as  the  same  as 
the  South  Arabian  name  Ammi-'anisa.  The  chief  of 
the  thirty-seven  Asiatics  who  visited  Egypt  during 
the  reign  of  Usertesen  II.  bore  the  name  Ibsha',  which 
apparently  is  the  same  as  the  Hebrew  Abishai. 
Moreover,  Bondi 2  has  shown  that  from  the  time  of 
the  Xlth  dynasty  onward  loan-words  of  Canaanitic 
origin  began  to  be  frequent  in  Egyptian. 

We  are  led  thus  to  the  conclusion  that  about  2500 
B.C.  a  wave  of  Semitic  migration  overflowed  Western 
Asia  from  Babylonia  to  Egypt  and  from  Syria  to 
South  Arabia.  The  name  which  is  most  appropriate 
for  this  migration  is  Amoritic.  In  a  contract-tablet 
of  the  reign  of  Ammisadugga  (2108),  a  region  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sippar  is  called  Amurru,  i.e.,  "  the  Amor- 
ite; "  and  in  another  tablet  of  the  same  period  this  is 
identified  with  MAR-  TU,  which  is  the  ideogram  (or  the 

1  Petrie,  History,  i.,  p.  xix. 

2  Dem   hebraisch-phonizischen  Sprachzweige   angehorige   Lehn- 
worter  in  hieroglyphischen  unci  hieratischen  Texten  (1886). 


THE    AMOKITIC    M  l(i  RATION  29 

ancient  name)  for  Syria-Palestine.1  From  this  it  fol- 
lows, first,  that  MAli-TU  of  the  earlier  Babylonian 
inscriptions  had  become  equivalent  to  Amurru,  "  the 
Amorite  land  ;  "  aud  second,  that  there  were  Amorites 
in  Babylonia,  who,  after  the  analogy  of  their  western 
relatives,  could  be  designated  MAR-TU.  Amoritic, 
accordingly,  is  a  name  broad  enough  to  cover  all 
branches  of  this  migration. 

In  Babylonia  and  in  Egypt,  where  the  population 
was  crowded,  the  new-comers  were  speedily  absorbed 
by  the  older  race.  In  Syria  and  Palestine  it  was 
otherwise.  Here  there  existed  no  dense  population, 
no  independent  civilization,  and  no  highly  organized 
political  institutions :  consequently  the  brunt  of  the 
migration  fell  upon  these  regions.  Since  the  immi- 
grants vastly  outnumbered  the  older  inhabitants,  their 
language  became  the  established  language  of  the 
country,  and  persisted,  in  spite  of  later  invasions, 
until  the  Aramaic  finally  drove  it  from  the  field. 

The  Amoritic  invasion  so  weakened  Babylonia  that 
it  lost  its  supremacy  in  Syria  and  Palestine  and  could 
not  resist  the  attacks  of  its  neighbours.  Kudur- 
Nankhundi,  king  of  Elam,  gathered  his  clans  and 
swrept  down  upon  his  hereditary  foe.  The  Elamites 
had  old  scores  to  pay  off,  and  now  that  their  turn  had 
come  they  showed  Babylonia  no  mercy.  They  pil- 
laged its  cities,  slew  its  people,  burned  its  temples, 
and  carried  off  the  images  of  its  gods.  The  venerable 
sanctuary  at  Nippur,  where  for  more  than  1,000  years 

1  Meissner,  Beitrage  z.  altbab.  Privatrecht,  No.  42  and  72 ; 
Hommel,  Zeitschr.  d.  deutsch.  morgenland.  Gesellschaft,  xlix.,  p. 
524;  Jensen,  Zeitschrift  f.  Assyriologie,  x.,  p.  341. 


30  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

the  votive  tablets  of  the  kings  had  been  set  up,  they 
razed  to  the  ground,  and  broke  its  precious  tablets  in 
pieces.  A  similar  fate  probably  overtook  the  records 
of  the  other  ancient  sanctuaries,  and  to  this  catas- 
trophe is  due  the  fact  that  Babylonian  historical 
tradition  does  not  reach  beyond  the  time  of  the 
Elamitic  invasion. 

The  date  of  this  conquest  is  given  by  the  interesting 
statement  of  Ashurbanipal  that,  after  his  great  victory 
over  Elam,  he  brought  back  the  image  of  the  goddess 
Nana,  which,  1,635  years  before,  Kudur-Nankhundi 
had  carried  away  from  its  temple  at  Erech.  This 
places  the  Elamitic  incursion  about  2280  B.C.  It 
must  thus  have  occurred  during  the  reign  of  Zabu, 
the  third  king  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon. 

Kudur-Nankhundi  did  not  himself  administer  the 
newly  conquered  territory,  but  entrusted  it  to  a  vice- 
roy whose  headquarters  were  at  Larsa.  Eri-Aku 
(=Arad-Sin,  "servant  of  the  moon,"  in  Semitic  Baby- 
lonian) calls  himself  in  his  inscriptions  the  "  son  of 
Kudur-Mabuk,  the  adda  of  Emutbal."  The  meaning 
of  adda  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  supposed  to  denote 
either  "  father  "  or  "  prince."  Kudur-Mabuk  is  a  pure 
Elamite  name,  and  Emutbal  is  a  region  of  Western 
Elam  bordering  on  Babylonia. 

In  one  of  his  inscriptions  Kudur-Mabuk  calls  him- 
self "adda  Martu"  i.e.,  "prince  of  Martu."  Since 
he  styles  himself  elsewhere  "adda  Emutbal,'"  Tiele 
maintains  l  that  Martu  in  this  case  is  equivalent  to 
Emutbal  and  means  nothing  more  than  West  Elam. 

1  Babylonisch-Assyrische  Geschichte,  p.  123  f.  ;  Encyclopedia 
Biblica,  art.  "  Chedorlaomer." 


THE   AMORITTC  MIGRATION  31 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  because  he  was  prince  of 
Emutbal  and  prince  of  Martu,  that  these  two  regions 
were  identical.  Martu  means  primarily  "  Syria  and 
Palestine,"  and  only  secondarily,  "  west,"  so  that  it  is 
not  natural  that  it  should  be  used  as  a  name  for  West 
Elam.  Moreover,  it  is  hard  to  see  how  in  a  Baby- 
lonian inscription  a  region  to  the  east  could  bo 
designated  as  the  "west  land."  We  are  shut  up, 
therefore,  to  the  alternatives,  either  that  Martu  is 
a  region  in  North  Babylonia  near  Sippar,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made  already,1  or  else  that  it  is 
Syria-Palestine.  That  Kudur-Mabuk  should  entitle 
himself  after  a  minor  region  of  North  Babylonia  is 
improbable  ;  Martu,  accordingly,  must  have  its  ordi- 
nary meaning. 

From  this  it  follows  that  Kudur-Mabuk's  suzerain 
exercised  an  authority  similar  to  that  of  the  great 
Babylonian  monarchs  of  an  earlier  period.  As  we 
have  seen,  the  hegemony  of  Babylonia  carried  with  it 
the  rule  of  Mesopotamia,  as  well  as  of  Syria  and 
Palestine.  If  the  kings  of  Ur  who  preceded  the 
dynasty  of  Elam,  and  the  kings  of  Babylon  who  fol- 
lowed it  could  maintain  political  and  commercial 
relations  with  the  West,  it  is  hard  to  see  why  this 
dynasty  should  not  have  maintained  similar  rela- 
tions. 

At  this  point  the  national  tradition  of  the  Hebrews 
begins.  In  Gen.  xiv.  Abram  is  represented  as  the  con- 
temporary of  Eri-Aku  (Arioch)  and  as  living  at  the 
time  of  the  Elamitic  supremacy.2  This  chapter  is 
regarded  by  all  recent  critics  as  an  independent  docu- 
1  Page  28.  2  For  literature  on  Gen.  xiv.,  see.  p.  xxxi. 


32  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

ment  diverse  in  origin  from  the  three  main  sources 
out  of  which  the  Book  of  Genesis  is  composed.  It 
relates  how  in  the  days  of  'Amraphel  king  of  Shinar, 
Chedorlaomer  king  of  Elam,  in  company  with  Arioch 
king  of  Ellasar,  and  Tidal  king  of  Goiim,  subdued 
the  kings  of  the  Vale  of  Siddim.  Thirteen  years  later 
they  rebelled,  and  the  following  year  he  came  up  with 
his  allies  and  smote  the  regions  east  of  the  Jordan 
and  of  Southern  Palestine.  Then  turning  eastward, 
he  engaged  the  kings  of  the  Vale  of  Siddim,  defeated 
them,  and  carried  away  spoil  and  captives.  Hearing 
of  this,  Abram,  who  dwelt  by  the  oaks  of  Mamre, 
gathered  his  allies,  the  Amorites,  pursued  after 
Chedorlaomer,  fell  upon  him  suddenly  by  night, 
routed  his  army,  and  pursued  the  fugitives  as  far  as 
Hobah  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Damascus.  Return- 
ing, he  restored  his  possessions  to  the  king  of  Sodom, 
and  paid  tithes  to  Melchizedek,  the  priest-king  of 
Salem. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  'Amraphel  is  the 
same  as  Khammurabi,  or  'Ammurabi,  the  sixth  king 
of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon.  The  el  at  the  end  of 
the  name  makes  some  difficulty,  but  Lindl  suggests 
that  it  is  the  word  for  "  god  ; "  'Amraphel  will  then 
equal  'Ammurabi-ilu.1  Arioch  is  probably  the  same 
as  Eri-Aku  of  the  monuments.2 

Whether  the  three  other  eastern  kings  of  Gen.  xiv.  1 

'  It  should  be  noted  that  the  vowels  were  not  written  in  the  old 
Hebrew  script.  Those  now  accompanying  im  r  p  I  are  a  late  con- 
jectural insertion. 

2  For  various  theories  in  regard  to  this  name  see  Schrader,  Sitz- 
ungshericht  d.  K.  Preuss.  Akademic,  phil.-hist.  Classe,  Oct.  24, 
1895 ;  Winckler,  Keilinschr.  Bibliothek,  iii.  1,  p.  92  f . 


THE   AMORITTC  MIGRATION  33 

are  mentioned  in  the  Babylonian  records  is  much 
disputed.  In  18DG  Mr.  Pinches,  of  the  British 
Museum,  published  a  series  of  epic  fragments,1  de- 
scribing apparently  an  invasion  of  Babylonia,  in 
which  a  name  written  KU-KU-KU-KU-mal  or  K U- 
KU-KU-mal  occurs.  The  sign  KU  has  also  the 
value  dur,  hence  the  first  two  syllables  may  be  read, 
Kudtir.  Pinches  attempted  to  show  further  that  the 
third  and  the  fourth  signs  can  have  the  value  of  high 
and  ga  respectively.  In  that  case  the  name  as  a 
whole  may  be  read  Kudur-Laghgamal,  which  is  the 
correct  phonetic  equivalent  of  Chedor-la'omer.  In 
the  same  fragments  the  names  Eri-E-a-ku  and  Tu-ud- 
khul-a  appear,  and  these  Pinches  identified  with  Eri- 
Aku  (Arioch)  and  Tid'al.  Later  investigators  2  have 
called  all  these  readings  in  question,  and  have  denied 
that  the  tablets  contain  any  mention  of  Chedorlao- 
mer,  Arioch,  or  Tidal.  Sayce,  however,  still  main- 
tains that  the  readings  and  the  identifications  are 
correct.3 

In  1896  Scheil  published  a  letter  of  Khammurabi 
to  a  certain  Sinidinnam  in  which  he  claimed  to  find 
mention  of  "  the  day  of  Ku-dur-nu-ukh-ga-mar."  He 
regarded  Sinidinnam  as  identical  with  the  king  of 
Larsa  of  that  name,  and  supposed  the  letter  to  refer 
to  a  victory  of  Khammurabi  over  Chedorlaomer. 
King,  however,  has  shown  4  that  the  true  reading  is 

1  Journal  of  the  Victoria  Institute,  xxix.,  pp.  45-90. 

s  King,  Letters  and  Inscriptions  of  Hammvrabi,  i.,  pp.  xiv.- 
xxxvi.  ;  Tiele,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Assyriologie,  1900,  p.  395  f.  ;  Bezold, 
ibid.,  p.  400. 

5  Expository  Times,  March,  1899,  p.  267. 

4  Letters  and  Inscriptions  of  Hammurabi,  i-,  p.  xxxv. 


34  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

not  Ku-dur-nu-ukh-ga-mar,  but  I-nu-ukh-sa-mar,1  and 
that  Sinidinnam  is  not  the  king  of  Larsa.  It  still 
remains  doubtful,  therefore,  whether  Chedorlaonier 
is  mentioned  in  the  Babylonian  monuments. 

Chedor-la'omer,  or  Kudur-Laghamar,  is  an  Elamitic 
name  of  precisely  the  same  formation  as  Kudur-Nan- 
khundi  and  Kudur-Mabuk,  and  Laghamar  is  a  well- 
known  Elamitic  deity.  Since  the  Elamitic  supremacy 
lasted  at  least  fifty  years,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  sup- 
posing that  Kudur-Laghamar  was  one  of  the  succes- 
sors of  Kudur-Nankhundi. 

Not  only  does  Gen.  xiv.  give  the  names  of  two,  and 
possibly  five,  of  the  early  Babylonian  kings,  but  it 
also  gives  correctly  the  regions  over  which  they  ruled. 
Amraphel  is  called  "king  of  Shinar."  From  Gen. 
xi.  it  is  evident  that  the  Hebrews  located  this  land  in 
North  Babylonia,  and  regarded  Babel  (Babylon)  as  its 
chief  city.  With  this  corresponds  the  fact  that  Kham- 
murabi  was  king  of  Babylon.  The  episode  is  dated 
"in  the  days  of  Amraphel,"  rather  than  in  the  days 
of  Chedorlaomer ;  this  implies  a  knowledge  of  Khani- 
murabi's  supremacy  over  Western  Asia  after  his  de- 
feat of  the  Elamites.  Ellasar,  the  residence  of  Arioch, 
is  manifestly  a  corrupted  form  of  Larsa,  the  capital 
of  Eri-Aku.  Chedorlaomer  is  called  "  king  of  Elam," 
which  corresponds  with  the  purely  Elamitic  form  of 
his  name. 

Gen.  xiv.  is  correct  also  in  making  Amraphel,  Ari- 

1  Much  useless  and  harmful  writing  has  been  provoked  by  Father 
Scheil's  copy,  in  which,  out  of  a  line  of  nine  signs,  four  were  mis- 
read. Cf.  Sayce,  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  (this  series),  p.  211, 
note.     [Cr.] 


THE    AMORITIC    MKJIIATIOX  35 

och,  and  Chedorlaomer  contemporaries.  Eri-Aku  is 
known  to  have  inflicted  a  defeat  upon  Sin-muballit, 
Khammurabi's  father,  and  subsequently  to  have  been 
overthrown  by  Khammurabi  himself.  The  Elamitic 
supremacy  was  contemporaneous  with  Amraphel  and 
Arioch,  for  North  Babylonia  was  not  subdued  until 
Eri-Aku's  victory  over  Sin-muballit,  and  Khammurabi 
was  the  expeller  of  the  Elamites. 

It  appears,  accordingly,  that  Gen.  xiv.  displays  a 
surprisingly  accurate  knowledge  of  early  Babylonian 
history.  So  many  details  cannot  have  come  down 
through  oral  tradition,  but  must  rest  upon  some  doc- 
umentary basis.  Either  records  of  the  time  of  Che- 
dorlaomer were  preserved  in  Palestine,  or  else  the 
Jews,  after  they  were  carried  into  captivity,  had  ac- 
cess to  Babylonian  tablets  of  this  period.  In  tlie 
first  case,  the  story  of  Abram's  relations  to  the  kings 
of  the  East  must  be  regarded  as  an  integral  part  of 
the  record ;  in  the  second  case,  it  will  have  to  be  pro- 
nounced a  fanciful  midrash  appended  to  authentic  an- 
cient data. 

The  theory  that  a  Jew  of  the  exile  derived  the  his- 
tory of  Gen.  xiv.  from  Babylonian  sources  is  fraught 
with  grave  difficulties.  A  calculation  of  the  chrono- 
logical data  in  the  Old  Testament  would  not  lead  one 
to  regard  Abram  as  a  contemporary  of  Khammurabi 
(Amraphel).  It  is  unlikely  also  that  the  Babylonians 
of  so  late  a  date  could  have  furnished  the  historical 
details  that  are  found  in  this  narrative.  The  names  of 
the  kings  and  of  the  regions  over  which  they  ruled  are 
not  conformed  to  Babylonian  spelling,  as  must  have 
been  the  case  if  they  had  been  drawn  directly  from 


36  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

Babylonian  records,  but  show  a  wideness  of  variation 
that  is  explicable  only  as  the  result  of  a  long  inde- 
pendent transmission.  All  have  been  recast  in  a 
manner  which  suggests  that  the  Hebrews  deri-ved 
them  from  the  Canaanites  rather  than  from  the  Baby- 
lonians. Accordingly,  the  rival  theory  of  the  preser- 
vation of  an  ancient  Palestinian  document  in  Gen. 
xiv.  commends  itself  as  on  the  whole  more  probable. 

This  theory  is  confirmed  by  several  characteristics 
of  the  chapter.  The  names  of  tribes  and  of  places 
belong  to  the  most  ancient  period  of  Palestinian  his- 
tory. The  inhabitants,  even  of  the  extreme  South, 
are  represented  as  Amorites  (vv.  7,  13).  This  is  in 
accord  with  the  old  Babylonian  use  of  Amurru  as  the 
equivalent  of  Martu,  or  Syria-Palestine.  It  was  not 
the  situation  at  the  time  of  the  Hebrew  conquest,  and 
it  is  not  the  representation  of  later  Old  Testament  doc- 
uments. It  was  true  only  in  the  period  shortly  after 
the  migration  of  the  Amorites,  before  they  had  been 
crowded  into  the  northern  mountains  by  later  waves 
of  Semitic  invasion.  The  Bephaim,  who  are  men- 
tioned in  v.  5,  are  connected  with  the  Anakim  in  Deut. 
ii.  11,  and  in  Deut.  i.  27  f.  the  Anakim  are  classified 
as  Amorites.  The  Zuzim  and  the  Emim,  who  appear 
in  the  same  verse,  are  in  Deut.  ii.  11,  20  also  identi- 
fied with  the  Amorites.  According  to  Deut.  ii.  10,  20, 
the  Emim  were  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  land 
of  Moab,  and  the  Zamzummim,  who  presumably  are 
the  same  as  the  Zuzim,  were  the  aboriginal  inhab- 
itants of  the  land  of  Ammon.  Sayce  ingeniously  sug- 
gests that  the  variation  between  Zuzim  and  Zamzum- 
mim can  only  have  arisen  through  transliteration  of  a 


THE   AMORITIC   MIGRATION  37 

cuneiform  original.  This  is  plausible ;  and  if  true,  it 
establishes  the  antiquity  of  this  people.  The  Horites, 
who  in  Gen.  xiv.  6  are  said  to  dwell  in  Mount  Seir, 
are  in  Dent.  ii.  12,  22  said  to  have  been  the  prede- 
cessors of  Edom  in  the  same  region. 

Tho  only  objection  to  tho  historicity  of  these  names 
is  based  upon  their  supposed  meaning.  Eephaim  in 
Hebrew  denotes  "the  dead, the  shades;"  Emim  may 
plausibly  be  interpreted  as  "the  terrible  ;  "  and  Horim 
as  the  "  cave-dwellers."  From  this  it  is  inferred  that 
these  are  only  mythical  names  of  forgotten  races,  whose 
tombs  and  caves  the  Hebrews  found  when  they  entered 
Palestine.  This  reasoning  is  as  fallacious  as  it  would  be 
to  infer  from  tho  fanciful  Hebrew  derivation  of  Babel 
(Babylon)  from  the  root  baled,  "  to  confuse,"  that  the 
city  of  Babylon  never  existed.  Foreign  names  are  al- 
ways likely  to  be  assimilated  to  familiar  native  words, 
and  spurious  etymologies  of  the  Old  Testament  do 
not  prove  the  original  names  to  be  unhistorical.  No 
more  does  the  assimilation  of  Amoritic  tribal  names 
to  the  Hebrew  words  for  "shades"  and  for  "cave- 
dwellers  "  prove  that  these  names  are  mythical.  Prob- 
ably the  Horites  (Khorim)  are  identical  with  the 
Kharu  of  the  Egyptian  monuments.  In  that  case  the 
name  has  nothing  to  do  with  "  cave-dwellers." 

The  Amalekites,  who  are  mentioned  in  Gen.  xiv. 
7  are  referred  to  in  Ex.  xvii.  as  the  original  in- 
habitants of  the  desert  of  Sinai.  They  were  not  re- 
garded by  the  Hebrews  as  a  kindred  race,  such  as  the 
Edomites,  Moabites,  and  Ammonites ;  hence  they 
must  have  belonged  to  an  older  stratum  of  popula- 
tion.    That  their  presence  in  Palestine  went  back  to 


431897 


38  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

the  Patriarchal  age  cannot  be  proved,  but  also  can- 
not be  disproved.  Lot,  Abram's  "  brother,"  as  he  is 
called  in  Gen.  xiv.  12,  is  doubtless  the  same  as  Lotan, 
a  clan  which  subsequently  was  incorporated  into 
Edoni  (Gen.  xxxvi.  2  ff.)  ;  and  this  is  the  same  as 
Ruten  (Luten),  which  occurs  as  the  Egyptian  name 
for  part  of  Palestine  as  early  as  the  Xllth  dynasty. 
Thus  it  appears  that  nearly  all  the  names  of  Gen. 
xiv.  are  attested  by  external  evidences,  and  that  no 
race  is  mentioned  in  this  chapter  which  can  be  shown 
to  belong  to  a  late  period.  The  Philistines  and  Hit- 
tites,  for  instance,  who  are  referred  to  so  frequently 
elsewhere  in  Genesis,  but  who  entered  Canaan  at  a 
late  date,  are  here  never  once  mentioned. 

The  names  of  places  in  Gen.  xiv.  are  archaic,  as  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  they  are  explained  by  the 
editor.  Thus  after  Bela  he  remarks,  "the  same  is 
Zoar;"  after  En-mishpat,  "the  same  is  Kadesh ;  " 
after  the  Vale  of  Shaveh,  "  the  same  is  the  King's 
Vale."  Damascus  (verse  15)  is  not  found  in  Babylo- 
nian monuments  of  this  period ;  but  if,  as  Sayce  sug- 
gests, its  ideogram  Gar-imiri-shu,  really  means  "  For- 
tress of  the  Amorites,"  then  its  antiquity  is  assured. 
Whether  Salem  is  the  same  as  Jerusalem  is  not  cer- 
tain ;  but  even  if  this  be  the  case,  it  creates  no  his- 
torical difficulty.  It  was  long  supposed  on  the  basis  of 
Jud.  xix.  11,  1  Chron.  xi.  5  that  Jebus  was  the  original 
name  of  this  city,  and  that  it  was  not  called  Jerusalem 
until  after  the  Hebrew  conquest ;  but  since  the  dis- 
covery of  the  name  Urusalim  in  the  Amarna  letters, 
which  were  written  two  centuries  before  the  Hebrew 
conquest,  this  view  has  had  to  be  abandoned. 


THE   AMOKITIC   MIGRATION  39 

Objections  to  the  antiquity  of  the  source  from 
which  Cien.  xiv.  is  derived,  based  upon  the  supposed 
meaning  of  the  names  of  the  kings  of  the  cities  of  the 
plain,  the  circuitous  route  followed  by  Chedorlaomer, 
the  representation  of  Abrani  as  a  warrior,  the  coin- 
cidence between  the  number  of  his  servants  and  the 
numerical  value  of  the  letters  of  the  name  Eliezer, 
the  mention  of  Dan,  the  designation  of  the  deity  as 
El-Elyon,  and  the  paying  of  tithes  to  Melchizedek, 
are  not  formidable. 

The  only  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  regarding 
this  passage  as  historical  is  the  identification  of  its 
hero  Abram  by  the  documents  of  Genesis  with  Abra- 
ham, the  assumed  ancestor  of  the  Hebrews  and  of 
a  group  of  allied  peoples.  Although  the  Hebrews 
spoke  the  language  of  Canaan,  they  regarded  them- 
selves, not  as  kindred  of  the  Canaanites  and  Amorites, 
but  as  Aramaeans.1  In  the  liturgy  of  Deut.  xxvi.  5  the 
Israelite  is  instructed  to  say,  "An  Aramaean  ready 
to  perish  was  my  father,"  and  in  Gen.  xxv.  20,  xxviii. 
5  et  al.,  Bethuel  and  Laban,  the  Aramaeans,  are  kinsmen 
of  the  Patriarchs.  We  know,  however,  from  recent 
archaeological  discovery  that  the  Aramaean  migration 
did  not  occur  as  early  as  2230  B.C.,  the  date  to  which 
Abram  must  be  assigned  by  his  synchronism  with 
Khammurabi.  In  the  Assyrian  monuments  of  the 
fifteenth  century  we  can  trace  the  first  advance  of 
the  Aramaeans  from  the  Syrian  desert  into  Babylonia, 
Assyria,  and  Mesopotamia."  In  the  Amarna  letters 
(c.  1400)  the  Suti  and  the  Khabiri,  branches  of  this 
migration,  are  found  to  be  threatening  Syria  and  Pal- 
1  See  p.  114.  *  See  p.  113. 


40  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

estine.  That  the  Khabiri  are  the  same  as  the  Hebrews 
in  the  wider  sense  of  the  name,  that  is,  that  they  are 
the  group  of  peoples  to  which  Israel,  Moab,  Ammon, 
and  Edom  belonged,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt.1 
It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  first  emergence  of 
Hebrews  upon  the  stage  of  history  was  not  earlier 
than  1500  B.C. 

Even  if  we  should  assume  that  a  single  Aramaean 
tribe  might  have  preceded  the  main  migration  into 
Syria-Palestine  by  eight  centuries,  it  is  inconceivable 
that  such  a  tribe  should  have  obtained  a  foothold  in 
the  midst  of  a  land  peopled  by  a  different  race.  AVhen 
the  Hebrews  under  Moses  and  Joshua  attempted  to 
enter  Canaan,  they  were  met  at  every  point  with  armed 
opposition.  Is  it  likely  that  their  forefathers  should 
have  received  better  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the 
Amorites  ?  Accordingly,  with  our  present  knowledge 
of  the  ancient  Orient,  it  must  be  pronounced  in- 
credible that  an  ancestor  of  Aramaean  Israel  should 
have  dwelt  in  Canaan  as  early  as  the  time  of  Kham- 
murabi  (Amraphel). 

Does  not  this  prove,  then,  that  the  narrative  of 
Abram's  conflict  with  Chedorlaomer  in  Gen.  xiv.  is  un- 
historical  ?  No,  unless  it  can  be  established  that  the 
traditional  identification  of  Abram  with  Abraham  is 
correct.  This  identification  has  nothing  in  its  favor  ; 2 
the  names  Abram  and  Abraham  have  no  etymological 
connection.     Abram  means  "  a  father  is  exalted,"  or 

'Seep.  113. 

4  At  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  a  Jew  was  hanged,  on  a 
slight  pretext,  for  scoffing  at  this  change  of  names.  See  Philo, 
Dc  mutationem  nominum,  viii.  1,  587.      [Cr.J 


THE   AMOKITIC    M  EG  RATION  41 

"Earn  is  a  father;"  Abraham  is  formed  with  a  root 
raham,  which  is  unknown  in  Hebrew  (Canaanitic), 
and  whoso  meaning  is  uncertain.  The  hypothesis  of 
the  compiler  of  Genesis,  that  Abram's  name  was 
changed  to  Abraham,  is  manifestly  only  a  device  to 
escape  this  difficulty.  The  theory  of  Hommel  that 
the  form  Abraham  has  arisen  out  of  Abrani  through 
the  use  of  the  South  Arabian  Minaean  script,  in  which 
a  long  a  is  represented  by  h  has  nothing  in  its  favor. 
That  the  Minaean  script  was  ever  used  in  Palestine 
there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence. 

These  two  names  must  have  belonged  originally  to 
distinct  personages.  Abraham  was  the  collective 
name  of  a  group  of  Aramaean  peoples,  including  not 
only  the  Hebraic  clans,  but  also  the  Ishmaelites  and 
a  number  of  other  desert  tribes.1  Abram  was  a  local 
hero  of  the  region  of  Hebron.  Since  only  a  few  of 
the  tribes  comprehended  under  the  name  Abraham 
ever  invaded  Palestine,  the  identification  of  the  two 
names  must  have  been  due  to  mere  similarity  of 
sound.  The  difficulty  that  arose  from  this  combina- 
tion, that  so  few  of  the  "  sons  "  of  Abraham  dwelt  in 
Canaan,  was  met  by  the  explanation  that  "he  sent 
them  away  from  Isaac  his  son,  while  he  yet  lived, 
eastward,  into  the  east  country  "  (!).2  In  the  earlier 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament  Israel  alone  is  men- 
tioned as  the  ancestor  of  the  nation ;  not  until  a 
time  close  to  the  exile  does  Abraham  appear  as  the 
great  forefather  to  whom  the  promise  is  given  that 
his  seed  shall  inherit  the  land  of  his  sojournings. 

Corresponding  to  the  two  names  Abram  and  Abra- 
1  Gen.  xxv.  1-18.  2  Gen.  xxv.  6. 


42  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

bam  are  the  two  places  from  which  the  patriarch  is 
said  to  have  migrated.  According  to  J  he  went 
forth  from  Haran  in  Mesopotamia,  but  according 
to  P  (probably  following  E)  he  went  forth  from 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees.  Haran  is  the  natural  home 
of  the  Aramaean  Abraham,  while  Ur  may  well  have 
been  the  original  residence  of  the  Amoritic  Abram ; 
since,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Amorites  invaded  Baby- 
lonia as  well  as  Syria  and  Palestine.1 

The  identification  of  Abram  with  Abraham  is  a 
counterpart  to  the  identification  of  Jacob  with  Israel, 
Joseph  with  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Esau  with 
Edom,  and  Lot  with  Moab  and  Amnion  that  we  meet 
in  later  portions  of  the  Book  of  Genesis. 

Both  Jacob  and  Joseph  appear  as  the  names  of 
places,  or  of  tribes,  in  an  inscription  of  Tahu times 
III.,  an  Egyptian  king  who  lived  300  years  before  the 
exodus.2  Y-'-q-b-'a-ra  is  recognized  by  all  recent 
historians  as  the  phonetic  equivalent  of  Ya'aqob-el, 
"Jacob-god."  Y-sa-p-'a-ra  is  probably  Yoseph-el, 
"  Joseph-god,"  although  in  this  case  the  difference  be- 
tween s  and  s  causes  an  element  of  uncertainty.  This 
difference,  however,  as  Miiller  shows,3  is  not  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  rejecting  the  equation. 

From  these  names  it  appears  that,  at  the  time  when 
Israel  is  stated  to  have  been  in  bondage  in  Egypt, 
Jacob  and  Joseph,  their  assumed  ancestors,  were  al- 

1  See  p.  28. 

2  Meyer,  Zeitschrift  fiir  attest.  Wissensclmfi ',  vi.  8;  Miiller, 
Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  162  ;  Groff,  Revue  Egyptologique,  iv.  05,  146. 

3  Orientalistische  Litteratur-Zeitung,  December  15,  1899,  col. 
396. 


THE    AMORITIC   MIGRATION  43 

ready  dwelling  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  When  now  we 
read  that  at  Bethel  or  at  Peniel  Jacob's  name  was 
changed  to  Israel,1  this  can  mean  nothing  else  than 
that  Israel  took  the  place  of  Jacob,  and  that  through 
the  influence  of  the  sanctuaries  of  Bethel  and  Peniel 
the  two  nationalities  were  fused  into  one. 

When  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  are  regarded  as 
sons  of  Joseph,  this  means  that  these  tribes  conquered 
the  region  formerly  owned  by  Joseph.  Since  in  this 
case  two  tribes  occupied  the  region  previously  held 
by  one,  it  was  impossible  to  say  that  Joseph's  name 
■was  changed  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  the  gen- 
ealogical association  was  the  only  one  available.  By 
this  association  the  difficulty  arose  that  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh,  who  were  already  regarded  as  "  sons  "  of 
Israel,  became  "  sons  "  of  Joseph  ;  while  Joseph  was 
regarded  as  the  son  of  Jacob,  who  was  identified  with 
Israel.  This  difficulty  was  met  by  the  story  told  in 
Gen.  xlviii.,  that  Israel  adopted  the  sons  of  Joseph, 
and  placed  them  on  the  same  footing  as  his  own  sons. 

Esau  was  the  name  of  an  old  Canaanitish  deity  and 
of  his  worshippers  in  the  south  of  Palestine.  Edom 
was  the  name  of  an  invading  race  closely  akin  to 
Israel.  Esau's  name  was  changed  to  Edom  because 
Edom  conquered  the  territory  once  occupied  by  Esau. 
Lotan  (Ruten),  or  Lot,  was  the  old  Egyptian  name  of 
the  eastern  portion  of  Palestine.  Into  this  territory 
the  Hebraic  tribes  Moab  and  Amnion  migrated.  They 
could  not  be  identified  with  Lot ;  hence,  as  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh  had  to  become  sons  of  Joseph,  so 
Moab  and  Amnion  had  to  become  sons  of  Lot. 
1  Gen.  xxxv.  10 ;  xxxii.  28. 


44  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

The  only  one  of  the  Patriarchs  who  is  not  given  a 
second  name  is  Isaac ;  but  he  is  connected  with  Beer- 
lahai-roi,  a  sanctuary  outside  of  Canaan,  or  with  Beer- 
sheba,  a  sanctuary  in  the  extreme  south.  He  repre- 
sents the  unity  of  Israel  and  Edom  in  the  southern 
desert  prior  to  their  separation  into  two  nations. 
This  united  people  effected  no  permanent  conquest 
in  Canaan,  and,  therefore,  its  name  could  not  be  said 
to  take  the  place  of  an  earlier  Canaanitic  designation. 

That  a  portion  of  Israel's  patriarchal  tradition 
should  have  been  derived  from  the  Canaanites,  is  pre- 
cisely what  the  historical  situation  after  the  conquest 
would  lead  us  to  expect.  The  Canaanites  constituted 
a  large  portion  of  the  population,  and  it  was  only  just 
that  their  heroes  should  figure  as  ancestors  of  the 
united  nation  alongside  of  the  heroes  of  pure  Hebrew 
origin,  and  that  with  the  complete  unification  of  the 
nation  the  two  cycles  of  tradition  should  be  blended 
into  a  single  whole.  Israel's  story  of  creation,  the 
flood,  and  the  beginnings  of  history,  its  legislation, 
its  religious  rites,  and  its  art,  were  all  derived  from 
the  earlier  inhabitants  of  the  land  ; 1  it  is  only  natural, 
therefore,  to  suppose  that  some  at  least  of  the  stories 
of  the  Patriarchs  came  from  the  same  source. 

The  recognition  of  a  distinction  between  Abram  and 
Abraham  relieves  the  fundamental  difficulty  that  has 
led  so  many  modern  critics  to  reject  Gen.  xiv.  as  un- 
historical,  in  spite  of  the  numerous  evidences  that  it 
is  based  upon  an  ancient  original.  If  Abram  was  not 
a  lineal  ancestor  of  Israel,  but  a  worthy  of  ancient 
Canaan,  then  there  is  no  reason  why  he  might  not 

1  See  pp.  49  ff. 


THE    AMOKITIC    MIGRATION  45 

have  come  into  conflict  with  the  Elamitic  king  Che- 
dorlaomer  and  with  Khammurabi  about  2230  B.C. 
Apart  from  a  single  word  in  v.  13,  this  chapter  con- 
stantly suggests  that  Abram  belongs  to  the  Amorites. 
He  dwells  in  the  country  of  the  Amorites  (v.  7),  and 
is  confederate  with  Marnre  the  Amorite,tho  "  brother" 
of  Eschol  and  of  Aner  (v.  13) ;  he  recognizes  also  the 
authority  of  the  Amoritic  priest  Melchizedek.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  in  v.  13  we  read,  "  there  came  one  that 
had  escaped  and  told  Abram  the  Hebreiv,"  we  must 
regard  the  last  two  words  as  a  gloss  designed  to  har- 
monize this  chapter  with  the  rest  of  Genesis.1  No- 
where else  is  Abram  called  "  the  Hebrew,"  or  is  it 
suggested  that  he  has  anything  to  do  with  the  Ara- 
insoan  Israel  that  1,000  years  later  invaded  Palestine. 
If  these  considerations  be  correct,  we  are  justified 
in  regarding  Gen.  xiv.  as  derived  from  a  Canaanitish 
source,  and  as  the  earliest  extant  native  document  for 
the  history  of  Palestine.  According  to  it  Palestine 
was  inhabited  by  a  number  of  independent  tribes  of 
the  Amoritic  race,  which  in  language  and  in  religion 
were  closely  allied  to  the  Canaanites  of  a  later  age. 
The  highest  type  of  political  organization  was  the 
city-state  under  the  rule  of  a  so-called  "  king."  In 
the  case  of  Melchizedek,  as  of  the  early  kings  of  Bab- 
ylonia, the  priestly  office  was  united  with  the  royal. 
The  stronger  kings  reduced  the  weaker  ones  to  the 
position  of  vassals ;  but  there  was  no  attempt  as  yet 
to  found  nations  with  centralized  governments.     In 

1 A  number  of  similar  glosses  have  been  noted  above,  p  38. 
Compare  also  the  mention  of  Dan  in  v.  14  with  Josh.  xix.  47  and 
Jud.  xviii.  29. 


46  SYEIA   AND   PALESTINE 

consequence  of  this  lack  of  genius  for  organization 
the  Araorites  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Elamitic 
invaders. 

Abram  was  the  chieftain  of  a  clan  that  formed  part 
of  the  great  Arnoritic  migration.  At  first  he  was  set- 
tled in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ur  in  Babylonia,  but 
later,  presumably  under  pressure  of  the  Elamitic  in- 
vasion, he  migrated  to  Palestine,  where  he  found  a 
welcome  among  kindred  tribes.  He  made  himself 
famous  by  his  religious  character,  by  his  honorable 
dealings  with  his  neighbours,  and  by  his  defeat  of  the 
Elamites.  After  his  death  he  probably  received  di- 
vine honors  at  the  sanctuary  of  Hebron.  Here  his 
cult  lasted,  and  the  story  of  his  life  was  preserved 
until  the  time  of  the  Hebrew  conquest. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   RULE   OF   THE   CITY   OF   BABYLON 
2230-1700  b.c. 

The  Elamitic  supremacy  in  Babylonia  and  in  the 
"West  did  not  long  survive  Abram's  defeat  of  Chedor- 
laomer.  We  have  an  inscription  of  Khammurabi1 
which  reads,  "  In  the  month  Shabatu,  on  the  23d 
(22d)  day,  in  the  year  when  Khammurabi  in  the 
strength  of  Aim  and  Bel  established  his  welfare,  and 
the  adda  of  Yamutbal  and  Eri-Aku  his  {i.e.,  Kham- 
murabi's)  hand  cast  to  the  ground."  The  adda  of 
Yamutbal  is  doubtless  the  same  as  Kudur-Mabuk, 
the  adda  of  Emutbal  and  father  of  Eri-Aku,  whom 
we  have  met  already  ;  and  from  this  inscription  it 
is  clear  that  Khammurabi  (Amraphel)  succeeded  in 
casting  off  the  Elamitic  yoke.  This  achievement  was 
followed  by  the  uniting  of  Babylonia  under  his  rule. 
Babylon  now  became  the  capital  of  Western  Asia, 
and  for  many  centuries  she  did  not  lose  this  position. 
Even  after  Assyria  had  robbed  her  of  political  influ- 
ence, she  retained  her  religious  supremacy.  Like 
Rome  of  the  Middle  Ages,  she  remained  a  holy  city, 
from  which  law  and  learning  went  forth  ;  and  the 
conqueror   who   laid  claim  to  the  dominion  of  the 

1  Keili nschriftliche  Bibliothek,  iii.  1,  p.  126. 

47 


48  SYRIA   AND    PALESTINE 

world  must  still  receive  his  crown  from  the  hand  of 
Bel,  her  chief  god. 

This  lofty  position  she  owed  to  the  genius  of 
Khammurabi.  He  conciliated  the  priesthoods  of  the 
local  sanctuaries  by  rebuilding  the  temples  that  the 
Elamites  had  destroyed.  He  constructed  canals  to 
drain  swamps  and  to  bring  water.  He  carried  on  so 
many  successful  wars  with  the  surrounding  nations 
that  in  one  of  his  inscriptions  he  speaks  of  himself  as 
"  the  mighty  warrior  who  hews  down  his  foes,  the 
whirlwind  of  battle  that  overthrows  the  land  of  the 
enemies,  who  brings  conflict  to  rest,  who  brings  re- 
bellion to  an  end,  who  destroys  warriors  like  an 
image  of  clay,  who  overcomes  the  obstacles  of  impass- 
able mountains."  That  this  conqueror  gained  control 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  also  is  proved  by  an  inscrip- 
tion in  which  his  sole  title  is  "  king  of  Martu." x 

Ammisatana,  the  great-grandson  of  Khammurabi, 
styles  himself  "  king  of  the  vast  land  of  Martu." 
Here  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Martu  refers  to 
Syria-Palestine.  He  is  the  only  king  of  the  first 
dynasty  of  Babylon  besides  Khammurabi  who  is  ex- 
pressly said  to  have  ruled  over  the  West,  but  it  is 
probable  that  all  the  other  kings  maintained  the  tra- 
ditional limits  of  the  empire. 

The  second  dynasty  of  Babylon  (2056-1688)  is 
known  to  us  only  from  the  List  of  Kings.  Judging 
from  the  length  of  the  reigns,  it  must  have  enjoyed  a 
period  of  remarkable  peace.  That  it  continued  the 
rule   of  its  predecessors  in  Syria  and  Palestine  is 

1  Winckler,  Altprientalische  Forschungen,  i. ,  p.  146  ;  KiDg,  Let- 
ters and  Inscriptions  of  Hammurabi,  i.,  No.  66. 


RULE   OF   THE   CITY   OF    BABYLON  49 

probable,  although  it  is  not  attested  by  any  ancient 
records. 

The  long-continued  supremacy  of  Babylon  left 
many  traces  in  the  language  and  in  the  civilization  of 
the  West.  A  number  of  places  mentioned  in  inscrip- 
tions of  the  XVIIIth  and  XlXth  Egyptian  dynasties, 
in  the  Amarna  letters,  and  even  in  the  Old  Testament 
bear  names  of  pure  Babylonian  formation  ;  e.g.,  Bit- 
sha-ilu,1  Bit-Ninib,  Ashtarti,2  Ashtaroth,  Ashtaroth- 
Karnaim,  Nebo,3  possibly  also  Uru-Salim  (Jerusalem).4 

Here  belong  also  the  names  of  places  compounded 
with  names  of  distinctively  Babylonian  deities,  such 
as  Sin,  Shamash,  Ishtar,  Nebo,  Dagan.  The  lan- 
guage of  Canaan  is  full  of  words  borrowed  from 
Babylonia;  e.g.,  heked  "temple,"  nabi  "  prophet," 
qorban,  and  other  technical  terms  of  the  ritual. 

In  the  year  1888  there  were  discovered  at  Tell-el- 
Amarna  in  Egypt  several  hundred  inscribed  clay 
tablets.  These  proved  to  be  chiefly  letters  from 
Syrian  and  Palestinian  "  kings "  to  the  Egyptian 
monarchs  Amenhotep  III.  and  Amenhotep  IV.  (c. 
1400).  If  these  letters  had  been  written  in  Egyptian, 
it  would  not  have  been  remarkable,  since  Syria  and 
Palestine  stood  at  this  time  under  the  rule  of  the 
Pharaohs  ;  instead  of  this,  however,  they  were  written 
in  Babylonian.  This  was  not  the  spoken  language  of 
Syria,  as  is  shown  by  numerous  mistakes  and  substi- 
tutions of  Canaanitic  words.  Babylon  was  then 
under  the  rule  of  a  foreign  dynasty,  and  had  lost 
much   of   its   ancient  prestige;   it  is  inconceivable, 

1  Inscription  of  Sety  I.  5  Amarna  Letters. 

3  Old  Testament.  «  Sayce,  Patriarchal  Palestine,  p.  73. 


50  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

therefore,  that  during  this  period  it  should  have  in- 
vaded Egyptian  territory  with  its  language  and  its 
literature.  The  use  of  Babylonian  in  these  letters  is 
explicable  only  as  a  survival  of  an  earlier  state  of 
affairs,  when  Egyptian  influence  in  Palestine  counted 
for  nothing,  and  when  Babylonian  influence  was  su- 
preme. This  situation  existed  in  the  second  half  of 
the  third  millennium,  when  Khammurabi  and  his  suc- 
cessors carried  their  arms  and  their  commerce  to  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  correctness  of  this  conclusion  is  confirmed  by 
a  study  of  the  development  of  syllabic  orthography 
in  Egypt.  As  far  back  as  the  Xlth  dynasty  (c.  2050) 
the  Egyptians  adopted  a  new  method  of  writing 
proper  names,  particularly  foreign  names.  Instead 
of  using  signs  for  the  consonants  only,  as  was  the 
case  in  the  ordinary  script,  they  began  to  employ 
signs  for  syllables  composed  of  consonants  with  the 
vowels  a,  e,  and  u.  This  system  is  not  Egyptian, 
but  can  have  been  developed  only  through  contact 
with  the  Babylonian  method.  This  favours  the  hy- 
pothesis that  during  the  earliest  period  known  to 
history  the  cuneiform  script  was  in  use  in  Canaan.1 

The  early  religions  of  Syria  and  Palestine  also 
bear  witness  to  Babylonian  influence.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  all  elements  of  these  religions  which 
differ  from  the  common  Semitic  type  are  borrowed 
from  Babylonia.  The  worship  of  Sin,  the  Babylo- 
nian moon-god,  is  attested  by  the  names  Sinai'-  and  the 

1  See  Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  58  sq. 

2  Others  connect  with  sene,  "  thorn  bush,"  e.g..  Duff,  Theology 
and  Ethics  (this  series).  [Cr.] 


KULE    OF   THE   CITY   OF   BABYLON  51 

desert  of  Sin  which  wo  meet  so  frequently  in  the  Old 
Testament.  The  worship  of  Shamash,  the  Babylo- 
nian sun-god,  is  seen  in  the  name  Beth-Shemesh. 
The  name  Bamnian  appears  in  Bimmon-parez,  En- 
Bimmon,  Gath-Bimmon,  and  Hadad-Bimmon.  When 
Shalmaneser  II.  (858)  captured  Aleppo,  he  did  not 
treat  the  Bamman  who  was  worshipped  there  as  a 
foreign  deity,  but  sacrificed  to  him  as  identical  with 
the  ancient  Bamman  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  Ash- 
tart  (Ashtoreth,  Astarto)  of  Canaan  has  the  closest 
affinity  with  the  goddess  Ishtar  of  Babylonia.  If  this 
deity  had  been  brought  into  Palestine  by  the  Canaan- 
ites,  it  would  probably  have  been  masculine,  as  among 
the  closely  related  South  Arabians.  Ashtart  has  the 
same  attributes  as  Ishtar,  and  the  same  curious  use  pre- 
vails in  Canaanitic  as  in  Babylonian  of  employing  the 
plural  Ashtaroth  (Ishtarate)  as  a  general  designation 
for  "goddesses."  The  antiquity  of  her  cult  is  shown 
by  the  proper  names  A-sh-ti-ra-tu  in  the  annals  of 
Tahutimes  III.,  Ashtarti  in  the  Amarna  letters,  and 
Ashtaroth  in  the  Old  Testament.  Dagon  was  long 
supposed  to  be  a  god  peculiar  to  the  Philistines  ;  but 
in  view  of  the  facts  that  there  was  a  Beth-Dagon 
within  the  territory  of  Judah,  and  that  one  of  the  Pal- 
estinian princes,  who  in  the  Amarna  letters  ask  help 
of  Pharaoh  against  the  Khabiri  and  Suti,  is  called 
Dagan-takala,  it  now  seems  certain  that  Dagon  is 
none  other  than  the  Babylonian  god  Dagan,  whose 
worship  was  inherited  by  the  Canaanites  from  the 
earlier  inhabitants  and  from  them  was  passed  on  to 
the  Philistines.  The  primitive  worship  of  the  Baby- 
lonian god  Ninib  is  attested  by  the  name  Bit-Ninib 


52  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

in  the  Amarna  letters ;  and  of  the  god  Nabu,  by  the 
Old  Testament  name  Nebo.  It  has  even  been  sug- 
gested that  lehem  in  Beth-lehem  is  the  phonetic  equiv- 
alent of  the  Babylonian  god  Lahmu.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  should  be  noted  how  completely  the  Canaanitic 
custom  of  designating  deities  by  the  indefinite  title 
Ba'al  corresponds  to  the  Babylonian  use  of  Bel. 

The  sacred  traditions  of  the  origin  of  the  world  and 
of  the  beginnings  of  civilization  that  were  handed 
down  in  Syria  and  Palestine  were  the  same  as  those 
that  were  current  in  Babylonia.  In  the  case  of  the 
Hebrews  the  identity  has  long  been  noted.  The  ac- 
count of  creation  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is 
clearly  an  improved  and  expurgated  edition  of  the 
Babylonian  creation-tablets.  The  Sabbath  is  an  evo- 
lution of  the  Babylonian  Shabattum,  which  was  ob- 
served on  the  seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and 
twenty-eighth  days  of  the  lunar  month  and  was  close- 
ly associated  with  moon-worship.  The  story  of  the 
garden  of  Eden  shows  its  Babylonian  origin  at  once 
by  the  fact  that  Paradise  is  located  on  the  Tigris  and 
the  Euphrates.  The  name  Eden  itself  is  probably 
Edinu,  the  plain  between  these  two  great  rivers. 
The  order  of  creation  as  described  in  Genesis  ii.  cor- 
responds to  the  so-called  Sumerian  creation-tablet,1 
and  the  tree  of  life  and  the  cherubim  are  probably 
also  Babylonian  conceptions.  The  long-lived  ante- 
diluvians are  the  analogue  of  the  ten  Babylonian 
kings  before  the  flood,  and  one  of  them,  Methushael, 
bears  a  name  of  pure  Babylonian  formation.  The 
Hebrew  flood-story  is  the  almost  exact  counterpart 

]  Records  of  the  Past,  New  Series,  vi.  109  ff. 


RULE    OF   THE   CITY   OF   BABYLON  53 

of  Ut-napishtim's  narrative  in  the  eleventh  tablet  of 
the  Babylonian  Gilgamesh  epic.  The  tower  of  Babel 
and  the  connected  story  of  the  dispersion  of  the 
nations  betray  their  origin  by  their  localization  in 
Shinar  and  the  vicinity  of  Babylon.1  Even  the  story 
of  the  birth  and  the  exposure  of  Moses  is  a  counter- 
part to  the  legend  of  Sargon  I.,  king  of  Agade. 

That  these  Hebrew  traditions  have  been  borrowed 
from  Babylonian  originals  is  now  admitted  by  every- 
one ;  the  only  controversy  is  as  to  the  time  and  the 
manner  of  the  borrowing.  It  has  frequently  been 
conjectured  that  they  were  adopted  during  the  period 
of  the  Assyrian  supremacy,  or  even  during  the  exile. 
It  is  unlikely,  however,  that  the  monotheistic  later 
Hebrews  would  adopt  the  myths  of  their  heathen 
conquerors,  and  the  legends  have  not  the  close  cor- 
respondence with  the  Babylonian  originals  that  they 
must  have  presented,  if  they  had  been  borrowed  at 
a  late  date.  The  Phoenicians  and  other  races  of 
Syria  and  Palestine  besides  the  Hebrews  show  Baby- 
lonian influence  in  their  mythology.  These  peoples 
did  not  stand  under  such  direct  Assyrian  influence  as 
did  Israel  and  they  were  not  carried  into  exile ;  we 
are  obliged,  therefore,  to  look  for  some  other  time 
when  they  also  could  have  been  influenced  by  Baby- 
lonian thought. 

Among  the  tablets  of  Tell-el-Amarna  there  were 

1  See  Driver  in  Hogarth.  Authority  and  Arch&olorjy,  pp.  9-26; 
Davis,  Genesis  and  Semitic  Tradition;  Gunkel,  Schbpfung  u.  Cliaos 
in  Urzeit  u.  Endzeit  ;  Jensen,  Keilinschriftliche  Eiblioihek,  vol. 
vi.  1,  Mi/then  u.  Epen  ;  Mnss-Arnolt  in  Eib/ical  World,  Jan.  and 
Fel).  1894,  and  Hebraica,  ix. ;  Zinnnern,  Eib/ische  u.  babylonische 
Urgescliiclite. 


54  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

found  fragments  of  two  Babylonian  legends,  similar 
to  those  that  have  been  preserved  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  were  used  as  reading  exercises  by  the 
Egyptian  scribes.1  The  discovery  of  these  legends 
is  witness  to  the  wide  spread  of  Babylonian  mythology 
in  Syria  and  Palestine  in  the  age  preceding  the 
Egyptian  conquest,  and  makes  it  probable  that  the 
traces  of  Babylonian  thought  in  all  the  Palestinian 
cosmogonies  date  from  the  early  period  when  Syria 
used  the  language  of  Babylon  and  was  influenced  by 
its  civilization.  The  primeval  traditions,  according- 
ly, that  are  preserved  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  must 
have  been  derived  by  the  Hebrews  from  the  civilized 
Canaanites  among  whom  they  came,  and  these  in 
their  turn  must  have  derived  them  from  the  earlier 
population  that  they  dispossessed. 

The  religious  institutions  of  Israel  show  no  less 
clearly  the  marks  of  Babylonian  influence.  The 
orders  of  the  priests,  with  the  conditions  as  to  blem- 
ishes and  ceremonial  purity  imposed  upon  them,  the 
use  of  Urim  and  Thummim  and  of  other  forms  of 
divination,  the  kinds  of  sacrifice  that  were  offered  and 
the  technical  names  that  were  applied  to  them,  the 
golden  candlestick,  the  table  of  shew-bread,  and  a 
multitude  of  other  details  of  the  ritual,  are  identi- 
cal with  Babylonian  institutions.2  These  institu- 
tions were  shared  by  the  Hebrews  with  other  Pales- 
tinian nations,  and  all  go  back  to  a  time  when  Canaan 
and  Babylonia  were  one  in  civilization.     The  same  is 

1  See  Jensen,  Keilinschrifiliche  Bibliothek.  vi.  1,  pp.  74  ff.,  92  ff. 

2  See  Haupt,  "  Babylonian  Elements  in  the  Levitical  Ritual," 
Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1900,  pp.  55  ff. 


RULE    OF   THE   CITY    OF    liAHYLON  55 

true  of  those  licentious  rites  that  flourished  among 
the  Canaanites  and  that  prophets  and  lawgivers 
sought  to  banish  from  Israel.  The  maintenance  of 
qedeshoth,  or  "  harlots,"  in  the  temples  of  Ashtart 
was  also  a  distinctly  Babylonian  custom. 

The  art  of  Syria  and  Palestine  is  also  of  Babylonian 
origin.  The  prehistoric  mounds  of  brick-work  that 
have  been  found  in  various  parts  of  the  country '  are 
comparable  only  with  the  ziqqurrate  of  Chaldea.  The 
Palestinian  temple,  as  it  is  depicted  on  coins  and 
monuments,  and  as  it  is  described  in  the  case  of  Sol- 
omon's temple,  imitated  Babylonian  models.  Sculp- 
ture, pottery,  and  textile  fabrics  were  equally  Baby- 
lonian in  their  original  design,  although  in  course  of 
time  they  tended  to  develop  along  independent  lines. 
Even  the  earliest  known  dress  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Syria  followed  Babylonian  fashion.  The  Asiatics 
depicted  on  the  tomb  of  Khnum-hotep  (c.  1900)  at 
Beni  Hassan  ~  are  clothed  in  the  exact  costume  de- 
picted on  the  ancient  Babylonian  monuments.  Even 
the  peculiar  flounced  skirt  of  the  old  Babylonian 
gods  and  priests,  the  Greek  kaunakes,  reappears  in 
Egyptian  representations  of  Syrian  dress. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  lid  dynasty  of  Babylon 
were  the  XI th  and  Xllth  dynasties  of  Egypt,  the 
"middle  empire."  The  capital  of  these  kings  was 
Thebes,  and  they  represent  a  native  reaction  against 
the  Amoritic  invaders  who  had  overthrown  the  old 
Memphite  empire.  We  can  trace  the  gradual  exten- 
sion of  their  poAver  northward  until  at  last  it  included 
all  Egypt. 

1  Nowack,  Archaologie,  p.  93.  a  See  page  62. 


56  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Like   the   old   empire,  the   middle  empire  was  a 
period  of  internal  development  rather  than  of  external 
expansion.     The  Egyptians  had  too   much   respect 
for  the  Amorites,  whose  warlike  prowess  they  had 
but  lately  experienced,  to   think   of   invading   Asia. 
They  contented  themselves  with   strengthening  the 
border   fortresses   and   repelling   invasions,  without 
undertaking   wars   of   reprisal.     The  Sinaitic  mines 
were  re-opened  by  Amenemhat  I.,  and  various  officials 
of  the  Xllth  dynasty  relate  their  encounters  with  the 
Bedawin  of  that  neighbourhood.     Amenemhat  I.  re- 
cords that  he  "  smote  the  negroes  and  opened  up  the 
land  of  the  'Amu,"  but  this  seems  to  refer  to  nothing 
more  important  than  expeditions  to  the  Sinaitic  Pen- 
insula.    One  official  of  the  middle  empire  states :  "  I 
satisfied  the  heart  of  the  king  in  composing  the  lists. 
.     .     .     I  counted  the  presents  of  the  chiefs  out  of 
all  lands,  in  silver,   gold,  i?g-balsam,  incense,  wine. 
.     .     ."     These   are   evidently  Syrian  products,  but 
they  seem  to  have  been  presents  sent  to  the  Pharaoh 
rather  than  tribute  or  spoil  of   war.      There   is   no 
evidence  that  any  portion   of   Palestine   was   under 
permanent  Egyptian  rule  during  this  period.1 

Although  no  conquests  were  attempted,  intercourse 
with  Syria  must  have  been  frequent.  In  the  Sallier 
Papyrus,  where  the  profession  of  the  scribe  is  praised 
as  superior  to  all  other  occupations,  we  read  :  "  The 
courier  goes  forth  into  a  foreign  land ;  his  property 
he  makes  over  to  his  children,  since  he  is  afraid  of 
lions  and  of  'Amu  (Asiatics).  What  does  he  have 
when  he  is  in  Egypt?  If  he  comes  to  his  arbour, 
1  Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  34  f. 


RULE    OF   Till-:    CITY    OP    BABYLON  57 

or  draws  near  to  his  house  at  evening,  he  is  con- 
demned to  depart.  He  sets  out,  brick  in  his  bosom. 
If  he  comes  home,  his  heart  swells  with  happy 
thoughts."  The  existence  of  couriers  who  can  be 
compared  with  the  professional  casto  of  the  scribes 
shows  that  the  exchange  of  diplomatic  messages  be- 
tween Egypt  and  the  countries  of  Asia  must  have 
been  frequent  at  least  as  early  as  1900  B.C.  In  the 
mention  of  "  brick  in  the  bosom  "  W.  M.  Miiller  1  sees 
a  reference  to  the  heavy  clay  tablets  inscribed  with 
despatches  that  the  courier  carried  with  him.  If 
this  interpretation  be  correct,  it  proves  the  use  of 
Babylonian  as  the  language  of  diplomacy  in  "Western 
Asia  500  years  before  the  period  of  the  Amarna  letters. 

Semitic  names  of  imported  articles  begin  to  be 
common  in  Egypt  from  the  time  of  the  Xlth  dynasty 
onward.  The  Saltier  Papyrus  compares  the  scribe 
not  only  with  the  courier,  but  also  with  the  merchant. 
"  The  weapon-maker,"  it  says,  "  goes  forth  into  the 
foreign  land,  much  he  loads  upon  his  asses."  The  dan- 
gers that  beset  the  merchant  with  his  valuable  wares 
were  probably  even  greater  than  those  that  threatened 
the  courier ;  still,  Palestine  must  have  been  in  a  fairly 
settled  condition,  and  there  must  have  been  some  re- 
sponsible government,  or  such  trade  could  not  have 
been  attempted.  Both  in  diplomacy  and  in  commerce 
we  see  the  salutary  influence  of  the  Babylonian  su- 
premacy upon  the  petty  states  of  Western  Asia. 

An  interesting  picture  of  Palestine  in  the  time  of 
king  Usertesen  I.  (c.  1966)  is  found  in  the  Romance 
of  Sinuhit,  one  of  the  earliest  pieces  of  Egyptian  litera- 

1  Orientalistische  LitteraturZeitung,  January,  l'JOl,  p.  8. 


58  SYEIA    AND   PALESTINE 

ture  that  has  come  down  to  us.  Sinuhit  was  ap- 
parently a  son  of  Amenemhat  I.,  and  when  his  father 
died  he  was  compelled  to  flee  for  his  life.  He  escaped 
as  far  as  the  "  Wall  of  the  Princes  "  that  guarded  the 
northeastern  frontier.  Here  he  crouched  in  the  bushes 
until  dusk,  and  then  succeeded  in  slipping  past  the 
watchmen.  He  pressed  on  all  night,  and  at  daybreak 
found  himself  in  the  land  of  Peten  beside  the  Bitter 
Lakes,  which  must  then  have  formed  a  part  of  the 
Bed  Sea.  Here  he  came  near  dying  of  thirst,  but 
was  saved  by  a  Bedawi  herdsman,  who  gave  him 
water  and  milk  and  brought  him  to  his  fellow-tribes- 
men. These  people  are  called  sti,  that  is,  "  archers," 
and  they  are  characterized  as  "  sand  -  wanderers." 
They  were  evidently  a  nomadic  tribe  of  the  Sinaitic 
desert.  By  them  Sinuhit  was  passed  on  to  the  next 
tribe,  and  so  from  one  tribe  to  another  until  he  reached 
the  land  of  Qedem,  "  the  East."  This  is  a  well-known 
region  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  whose  inhabitants  were 
called  in  the  Old  Testament  Bene-Qedem,  or  "  Chil- 
dren of  the  East."  Here  Sinuhit  felt  safe  and  re- 
mained a  year  and  a  half,  until  Ammianshi,  king  of 
Upper  Tenu,  heard  of  his  valour  from  other  Egyptian 
refugees,  of  whom  he  seems  to  have  had  a  number 
at  his  court,  and  invited  him  to  come  and  enjoy  his 
hospitality  and  hear  the  latest  news  from  Egypt. 

Ammianshi  has  been  referred  to  already  as  a  name 
of  the  Amoritic  type  that  during  this  period  we  meet 
in  all  parts  of  Western  Asia.  Tenu  is  regarded  by 
Hommel a  and  by  Jensen  2  as  the  same  as  Tidum  or 

1  Ancient  Hebrew  Tradition,  p.  50. 

8  Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriologie,  x  ,  p.  335  f. 


RULE    OF   THE   CITY   OF   BABYLON  59 

Tidanum  that  wo  meet  in  the  old  Babylonian  monu- 
ments as  the  name  of  Anti-Lebanon.  Miiller  '  holds 
that  "Upper  Tenu"  is  only  an  abbreviation  for 
Upper  Eutenu,  or  Palestine  and  Southern  Syria. 
Ruten  is  the  same  as  the  Biblical  Lotan,  Lot,  which 
Gen.  xiv.  calls  "  the  brother  of  Abram." 

Ammianshi  showed  Sinuhit  distinguished  courtesy. 
The  narrative  of  his  favour  is  thus  translated  by 
Erman :  2 

"  He  placed  me  at  the  head  of  his  children,  and  married  me 
to  his  eldest  daughter.  He  let  me  choose  from  amongst  his 
lands,  from  amongst  his  choicest  possessions  on  the  frontier 
of  another  country.  This  was  the  beautiful  country  of  'Eaa  ; 
figs  and  vines  grew  there,  there  were  many  sorts  of  wine  and 
it  was  rich  in  honey,  its  olive  trees  were  plentiful,  and  all 
kinds  of  fruit  grew  on  its  trees.  There  was  corn  there,  and 
barley,  and  herds  without  number.  And  there  was  yet  more 
that  happened  to  me  from  love  to  me  (?),  for  he  made  me 
prince  of  a  tribe  of  his  country.  Then  I  had  as  much  bread 
as  I  wanted,  and  wine  for  every  day,  boiled  meat  and  roast 
goose,  irrespective  of  the  game  of  the  country  that  I  caught 
and  carried  off  as  spoil,  and  irrespective  of  what  my  grey- 
hounds brought  me.  .  .  .  Thus  I  spent  many  years,  and 
my  children  became  heroes,  each  the  protector  of  his  adopted 
tribe.  The  messenger  who  came  from  the  court  or  went 
thither  stayed  with  me,  I  gave  hospitality  to  every  one,  and  I 
gave  water  to  the  thirsty.  ...  I  subdued  each  people 
against  whom  I  marched,  I  drove  them  from  their  pastures 
and  from  their  wells,  I  captured  their  cattle  and  carried  off 
their  children  ;  I  robbed  them  of  their  food ;  I  killed  their 
people  with  my  sword,  with  my  bow,  with  my  marches,  with 

1  Asien  unci  Evropa,  p.  47. 

2  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  370 ;  see  also  Goodwin,  Records  of 
the  Fast,  vi.,  p.  131;  Maspero,  Records  of  the  Past,  New  Series, 
ii.,  p.  U. 


SO  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

my  wise  designs.  ...  A  hero  of  Term  came  and  chal- 
lenged (?)  me  in  my  tent.  He  was  a  daring  man  (?),  he  had  no 
equal,  he  had  subdued  everybody.  He  said :  '  Let  him  fight 
with  me ' ;  he  thought  (?)  he  would  slay  me,  he  imagined  he 
would  carry  off  my  cattle.  ...  I  shot  at  him,  and  my 
weapon  stuck  in  his  neck ;  he  cried  out,  he  fell  on  his  nose. 
All  the  Beduins  cried  out.  Then  I  took  away  his  possessions, 
I  carried  off  his  cattle  :  what  he  thought  to  have  done  to  me, 
that  did  I  to  him." 

As  Sinuhit  grew  old,  he  wearied  of  life  in  Term  and 
longed  to  return  to  Iris  native  land.  After  much 
diplomatic  negotiation,  he  at  last  received  pardon, 
and  a  royal  messenger  was  sent  to  escort  him.  He 
gave  his  property  over  to  his  children  and  went  back 
to  Egypt,  where  he  was  received  with  every  mark  of 
favour.  He  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  a  civilized  toilet, 
and  cleansed  himself  from  the  vermin  of  Syria.  He 
exchanged  his  coarse  garments  for  fine  robes,  was 
anointed  with  precious  ointments,  and  reposed  on  a 
beautiful  couch.  A  new  house  and  a  tomb  were  built 
for  him,  and  he  continued  to  live  happily  in  Egypt 
until  his  death. 

This  story  is  only  a  romance ;  still  it  gives  a  cor- 
rect picture  of  Palestine  2,000  years  B.C.  It  was  a 
fruitful  and  prosperous  country,  well  stocked  with 
game  of  every  sort.  The  Amorites  cultivated  the 
soil,  but  they  had  not  forgotten  the  warlike  virtues 
of  their  nomadic  ancestors.  Sinuhit's  lot  in  Tenu 
would  have  been  enviable,  if  only  he  had  been  able 
to  overcome  his  homesickness. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  troops  of  the  middle 
empire  were  Asiatic  mercenaries.  They  are  distin- 
guished among  the  figures  on  the  tombs  of  Beni  Hassan 


RULE   OF   THE   CITY    OF    BABYLON  61 

by  tlieir  Semitic  cast  of  features,  their  pointed  beards, 
and  also  by  the  red  hair  and  blue  eyes  with  which  the 
Egyptians  so  frequently  depicted  Syrians.1  Their 
hair  is  allowed  to  hang  down  as  far  as  the  nape 
of  the  neck,  and  is  cut  off  abruptly  at  the  bottom. 
They  wear  only  loin-cloths  of  striped  material  woven 
in  the  Babylonian  style.  They  are  armed  with  huge 
boomerangs,  which  probably  served  also  as  clubs, 
with  Egyptian  battle-axes,  with  spears,  and  rarely  also 
with  slings.  The  absence  of  the  bow  is  a  striking 
peculiarity.  These  soldiers  are  never  represented  on 
the  monuments  in  comical  attitudes,  as  are  the  negro 
troops,  and  this  shows  what  formidable  warriors  they 
were  esteemed  by  the  Egyptians.  They  may  have 
been  survivors  of  the  Ainoritic  migration  into  Egypt, 
or  they  may  have  been  recruits  gathered  among  the 
Bedawin  of  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula.  In  either  case, 
they  present  us  with  the  features  and  the  armament 
of  the  race  that  2,000  years  B.C.  controlled  the  desti- 
nies of  Western  Asia. 

Asiatic  slaves  were  common  in  Eg}rpt  at  the  time 
of  the  Xllth  dynasty.  Gardeners,  shepherds,  car- 
penters, etc.,  with  Semitic  features  and  dress,  are 
depicted  in  the  retinues  of  the  Theban  princes.  So 
common  were  Palestinian  handmaids  that  "female 
Asiatic "  is  used  as  a  synonym  for  "  concubine." 
Syrian  maidens  apparently  were  more  highly  esteemed 
than  any  other  in  the  harems  of  the  Egyptian  nobility. 

Not  only  did  Egyptian  merchants  visit  Syria,  but 
Syrian  merchants  also  made  their  way  into  Egypt. 
On  the  tomb  of  Khnumhotep  of  the  time  of  Usertesen 
1  See  p.  4. 


62  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

II.  (c.  1900),  there  is  a  famous  fresco,  which  was  long 
supposed  to  represent  the  arrival  of  the  children  of 
Israel  in  Egypt,  but  which  is  now  regarded  as  a  cara- 
van of  Syrian  merchants.  Neferhotep,  the  scribe,  pre- 
cedes the  party,  bearing  in  his  hand  an  inscription 
stating  that  these  are  thirty-seven  'Amu  (Asiatics) 
who  bring  stibium,  the  modern  kohl,  or  "  eye-paint." 
He  is  followed  by  Khiti,  the  chief  huntsman,  who 
presents  the  foreigners  to  Prince  Khumhotep.  Then 
comes  the  head  man  of  the  caravan,  leading  an  ibex 
by  a  cord,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  boomerang  or  a 
staff  of  office.  In  front  of  him  is  written  "  Abishua, 
a  chief  of  the  desert."  He  is  followed  by  a  man  lead- 
ing an  ibex,  and  by  four  warriors  armed  with  spear, 
bow,  and  boomerang.  Next  comes  an  ass  bearing 
two  children  seated  on  top  of  a  bale  of  coloured  goods, 
perhaps  rugs.  It  is  driven  by  a  small  boy  with  a  long 
spear ;  and  is  followed  by  four  women ;  an  ass  laden 
with  baggage  and  weapons  ;  a  man  with  a  lyre ;  and  a 
warrior  with  a  bow,  quiver,  and  boomerang.  All 
these  people  show  an  unmistakably  Semitic  cast  of 
features.  The  men  have  flowing,  bushy  hair  cut  off 
at  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and  pointed  beards,  like  the 
Semitic  mercenaries  referred  to  above.  The  women 
wear  their  hair  loose  over  their  shoulders,  with  a  lock 
hanging  down  on  either  side  of  the  face,  and  a  fillet  tied 
about  the  forehead.  All  are  clothed  in  tunics  of  rich 
stuffs  woven  in  ornamental  stripes.  The  right  shoulder 
is  left  bare.  They  are  evidently  no  ordinary  Bedawin 
of  the  desert,  but  are  prosperous  merchants,  who  carry 
their  families  about  with  them  on  their  journeys,  and 
who  are  able  to  clothe  them  in  an  elegant  manner. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   CANAANITIC  MIGRATION 
1700-1553  b.c. 

About  1700  B.C.  the  Kashsbu  or  Kassites  appeared 
in  Babylonia.  They  came  apparently  from  the  steppes 
of  Central  Asia,  and  were  akin  to  the  Turks  and  the 
Tartars  of  a  later  period.  After  overrunning  Media 
and  Elam  they  broke  into  Babylonia,  and  Gandash, 
their  leader,  became  the  founder  of  the  third,  or  Kas- 
site  dynasty,  which  from  1688-1113  B.C.  maintained 
itself  upon  the  throne  of  Babylon.  At  first  these 
invaders  wasted  the  country  with  fire  and  sword,  and 
carried  away  its  treasures  to  their  mountain  fast- 
nesses, or  to  strongholds  that  they  had  constructed 
in  the  marshes  of  South  Babylonia.  Marduk,  the 
chief  god  of  Babylon,  they  removed  to  Khani,  a  re- 
gion of  Western  Media,  in  token  that  the  supremacy 
'  of  Babylon  had  come  to  an  end.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, they  fell  under  the  spell  of  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tion ;  and,  like  all  the  invaders  that  had  gone  before 
them,  adopted  the  language  and  the  customs  of  the 
land  and  were  soon  indistinguishable  from  the  old 
Babylonian  population.  Karaindash,  the  sixth  king 
of  the  dynasty,  placed  the  title  "  king  of  Kashshu  " 
after  the  title  "  king  of  Babylon,"  and  his  successors 

63 


64  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

dropped  it  altogether.  Agum-kak-rime,  the  seventh 
king,  brought  back  the  image  of  Marduk  from  Khani 
and  restored  it  in  splendour  to  its  original  temple. 
From  this  time  onward  there  was  little  except  their 
names  to  distinguish  these  rulers  from  the  old  native 
kings. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  Kassite  invasion  of 
Babylonia  was  the  entrance  of  a  new  race  into  Meso- 
potamia. Up  to  this  time,  apparently,  that  region  had 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  Semites  ;  but  now  a  popu- 
lation of  a  totally  different  sort  began  to  push  in  from 
Asia  Minor.  In  the  region  between  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Euphrates  and  its  tributary  the  Balikh  it 
established  a  kingdom,  which  in  its  own  inscriptions, 
as  well  as  in  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  records, 
is  known  as  Mitanni.  In  the  succeeding  century  this 
kingdom  was  strong  enough  to  rank  with  Babylon, 
Egypt,  and  Assyria  as  one  of  the  four  great  powers. 
One  of  the  Amarna  letters  is  written  in  the  language 
of  this  country ;  and,  thanks  to  the  investigations 
of  Jensen,1  Sayce,2  Briinnow,3  and  Messerschmidt,4 
considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  deciphering 
it ;  its  linguistic  affiliations,  however,  still  remain 
uncertain. 

These  great  migrations  could  not  fail  to  produce 
momentous  changes  in  the  political  history  of  West- 
ern Asia.     Before  the  Kassites  had  become  amalga- 

1  Zeitsclirift  fur  Assyriologie,  v.  166  ff. ;  vi.  34  ff.  ;  xiv.  73  ff. 
*  Zeitschrift  fiir  Assyriologie,  v.   260;    Proceedings  Soc*  Bill. 
Archceology,  1900,  p.  171. 

3  Zeitschrift  fiir  Assyriologie,  v.  209  ff. 

4  Mitteil  d.  vorderas.  Gesellschaft,  1899,  4. 


THE   CANAANITIC    MIGRATION  65 

mated  with  tbo  older  population  of  Babylonia  tbe 
people  of  Mitanni  had  established  themselves  so 
urmlythat  it  was  impossible  to  dislodge  tbem.  They 
barred  tbe  road  which  followed  the  Euphrates  into 
Northern  Syria.  Tbe  route  through  tbe  Syrian 
desert  was  not  practicable  on  account  of  lack  of  water 
and  danger'from  marauding  Bedawin.  Babylon,  con- 
sequently, was  cut  off  from  ber  ancient  trade  with 
the  West ;  and  with  tbe  loss  of  ber  commercial  pros- 
perity, sank  to  tbe  position  of  a  second-class  power. 
Syria,  Palestine,  and  Mesopotamia,  which  she  had 
dominated  for  two  thousand  years,  passed  out  of  ber 
grasp,  never  to  return  again,  except  for  a  brief  period 
a  thousand  years  later  under  tbe  rule  of  Nebuchad- 
rezzar II. 

Tbe  blocking  of  tbe  overland  route  between  tbe 
Far  East,  India,  and  tbe  West  by  the  migration  of  tbe 
people  of  Mitanni  compelled  trade  to  take  tbe  longer 
and  more  difficult  course  through  tbe  Bed  Sea.  Tbe 
Minsean  kingdom,  whose  magnificent  remains  Halevy 
and  Glaser  have  discovered  in  South  Arabia,1  must 
have  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  second  mil- 
lennium. Its  rise  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the 
changed  political  situation  in  Western  Asia.  The 
prosperity  of  Egypt  under  tbe  XVIIItb  and  tbe 
XlXtb  dynasties  and  its  new  policy  of  foreign  con- 
quest were  due  to  tbe  same  cause. 

A  still  more  important  consequence  of  tbe  decline 
of  Babylonia  was  tbe  rise  of  tbe  Assyrian  Empire. 

1  Glaser,  Skizze  der  Geschichte  u.  Geographie  Arabiens  ;  Hom- 
mel,  in  Hilprecht,  Recent  Research,  pp.  131  ff. ;  Glaser,  Mitteil.d. 
vorderas.  Gesellschaft,  1899,  2. 


66  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Tiglatli-pileser  L,  who  reigned  about  1000  B.C.,  men- 
tions the  patesi,  or  "  viceroy,"  Shamshi-Ramman, 
son  of  Ishmi-Dagan,  patesi  of  Ashshur,  avIio  lived 
700  years  before  his  time,  i.e.,  about  1700  B.C. 
Ashur-bel-nishe-shu,  the  contemporary  of  Karain- 
dash,  the  eighth  king  of  the  Kassite  dynasty,  ac- 
cording to  the  document  known  as  the  Synchronous 
Histoy^y,1  is  the  first  patesi  who  is  known  to  have 
assumed  the  title  "  king  of  Assyria."  From  this  time 
onward  for  five  hundred  years  there  was  strife  for  the 
supremacy  between  Assyria  and  Babylon,  ending  at 
last  in  the  victory  of  Assyria. 

Contemporaneous  with  these  great  political  changes 
in  Asia  was  the  rule  of  the  Hyksos  or  "  Shepherd 
Kings  "  in  Egypt. 

If,  as  all  our  authorities  agree,  the  Hyksos  were 
Asiatics,  they  must  have  conquered  Palestine  before 
they  entered  Eg}^pt.  This  theory  is  confirmed  by 
the  remarkable  statement  of  Num.  xiii.  22  that  Hebron 
in  Palestine  was  built  seven  years  before  Zoan  (Tanis) 
in  Egypt.  Tanis  was  the  favourite  residence  of  the 
Hyksos  kings,  and  a  monument  of  the  time  of 
Ramessu  II.  found  there  is  dated  "in  the  four  hun- 
dredth year  of  the  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
Set-aa-pehti,"  which  seems  to  show  the  existence 
of  a  Hyksos  era  beginning  with  the  foundation  of 
Tanis.2 

Further  evidence  of  the  conquest  of  Palestine  by 
the  Hyksos  is  found  in  the  location  of  their  strong- 

1  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  i.,  p.  194. 

2  Meyer,  Geschichte  Aegyptens,  pp.  9,  210;  Petrie,  History,  i., 
p.  244. 


THE    CANAANITIC    MIGRATION  67 

hold  Auaris.  Instead  of  being  placed  near  the  centre 
of  Egypt,  it  was  located  on  the  eastern  frontier, 
which  indicates  that  the  king  had  to  maintain  order  in 
Asia  as  well  as  in  Africa.1  When  the  Hyksos  were 
driven  out,  they  fell  back  upon  Sharuhen  in  South- 
ern Canaan.  A  papyrus  written  about  twenty  years 
after  their  expulsion,  and  based  on  older  sources, 
contains  the  recipe  of  an  oculist  of  Gebal,  which,  as 
Midler  has  shown,'-  is  based  upon  a  cuneiform  orig- 
inal and  therefore  is  genuine.  It  proves  that  inti- 
mate relations  must  have  existed  between  Palestine 
and  Egypt  during  the  Hyksos  period. 

In  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  Hyksos  the  monu- 
ments give  us  no  exact  information.  They  are  called 
'Amu,  or  "Asiatics,"  foreigners,  and  plague ;  but  these 
names  throw  no  light  upon  their  ethnological  affilia- 
tions. Once  they  are  called  Mentiu,  a  name  which  is 
applied  to  the  Bedawin  of  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula. 
The  wreight  of  recent  evidence  is  in  favour  of  their 
having  been  a  wave  of  Semitic  migration  similar  to 
those  whose  invasions  of  Western  Asia  and  of  Egypt 
we  have  already  studied.  For  this  migration  the 
most  appropriate  name  is  Canaanitic. 

In  Babylonian  inscriptions  of  the  time  of  Kham- 
murabi  'Amurru  is  the  name  for  the  whole  of  Syria 
and  Palestine,  and  in  Gen.  xiv.  the  Amorites  are  said 
to  occupy  the  land  even  to  the  extreme  south,  but  in 
Egyptian  monuments  of  the  XHth  dynasty,  as  well  as 
in  the  Amarna  letters,  the  name  'Amor  is  limited  to 
that  portion  of  Syria  which  lies  about  Qadesh  in  the 

1  Miiller,  Mitteil.  d.  vorderas.     Gesell,  1898,  3,  p.  22. 

2  Festschrift  fur  Ebers,  p.  77. 


68  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

valley  of  the  Orontes  east  of  Mount  Lebanon.  Pal- 
estine, particularly  the  coast  region,  is  known  as 
Ka-n-'-na,  i.e.,  Canaan.  In  the  Old  Testament  also 
the  Amorites  are  represented  as  in  possession  of  only 
a  small  portion  of  the  land  at  the  time  of  the  Hebrew 
invasion,  and  the  ordinary  name  for  the  aborigines  is 
Canaanites.  This  is  the  regular  usage  of  the  Penta- 
teuchal  document  J,  which  in  all  probability  was 
written  in  the  land  of  Judah.  Only  in  North  Israel- 
itish  writings,  such  as  the  Pentateuchal  document  E 
and  the  Prophet  Amos,  are  the  Amorites  mentioned.1 
These  facts  show  that  in  the  interval  between  the 
Babylonian  rule  in  Syria-Palestine  and  the  Egyptian 
conquest  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the  popula- 
tion of  this  region.  The  old  Amorite  inhabitants 
had  been  crowded  northward  into  the  mountains  of 
Central  Syria,  while  the  Canaanites  had  taken  pos- 
session of  Palestine  and  the  entire  coast  region. 
The  appearance  of  this  new  race  it  is  impossible  not 
to  combine  with  the  advent  of  the  Hyksos  in  Egypt 
and  with  their  withdrawal  into  Palestine  after  their 
defeat. 

The  meaning  of  the  name  Canaan  is  uncertain.  It 
has  commonly  been  supposed  to  denote  "  lowland  " 
and  to  stand  in  contrast  to  'Amor,  "  highland  ; "  but 
this  is  very  doubtful.2  The  root  can'  means  "to  be 
humbled,"  not  "  to  be  low,"  and,  in  view  of  the  use 
of  'Amurru  in  Babylonian  as  a  racial  name,  it  is  im- 
probable that  'Amor  has  anything  to  do  with  "  high- 

1  Meyer,  Zeitschr.  f.  alttest.   Wissenschaft,  i.  139. 
*  See   Moore,    Proceedings    Am.     Oriental    Society,    1890,    pp. 
lxvii.-Lxx. 


THE    CANAANITIC    MIGRATION  69 

land."  Neither  in  Egyptian  sources  nor  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  the  name  Canaan  limited  to  the  low 
plain  along  the  coast.  It  is  possible  that  the  He- 
brews, or  even  the  Canaanites  before  them,  accepted 
the  etymologies  "  lowland  "  and  "  highland  "  for  Canaan 
and  'Amor  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that 
these  were  the  primitive  meanings  of  the  words. 
Canaan  is  probably  originally  a  racial  rather  than  a 
geographical  name. 

The  relation  of  the  Hyksos  -  Canaanites  to  the 
Amorites  is  a  disputed  question.  Certain  passages 
of  the  Old  Testament  distinguish  between  them. 
Deut.  iii.  9,  for  instance,  informs  us  that  the  Sidonians, 
i.e.,  the  Phoenician  Canaanites,  called  Mount  Hermon 
"Sirion,"  while  the  Amorites  called  it  "  Senir,"  point- 
ing thus  to  dialectic  differences  between  the  languages 
of  the  two  peoples.  In  other  passages  Amorite  and 
Canaanite  are  used  interchangeably,  and  in  Gen. 
x.  16  the  Amorite  is  classified  as  a  "  son  "  of  Canaan. 
Evidence  is  abundant  that  the  language  of  the  Hyk- 
sos-Canaanites  did  not  differ  materially  from  that  of 
the  Amorites.  In  Isa.  xix.  18  Hebrew  is  called  "  the 
language  of  Canaan,"  and  the  monuments  show  that 
Phoenician,  Moabite,  and  other  Canaanitic  dialects 
differed  from  the  language  of  Israel  only  in  trifling 
details.  In  the  cuneiform  Amarna  letters  numerous 
Hebraisms  have  been  detected,  which  prove  that 
about  1400  B.C.  Hebrew  was  spoken  in  Palestine. 
But  we  have  seen  already  that  in  the  time  of  the  first 
dynasty  of  Babylon,  i.e.,  during  the  period  of  the 
great  Amoritic  migration,  proper  names  of  a  pure 
Hebraic  type  appear  simultaneously  in   Babylonia, 


70  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Egypt,  and  Canaan.  This  shows  that  the  language 
of  the  Amorites  cannot  have  differed  widely  from 
that  of  the  Hyksos-Canaanites. 

I  conclude,  accordingly,  that  the  Hyksos-Canaan- 
ites are  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  later  waves  of 
the  Amoritic  invasion  rather  than  as  an  independent 
migration,  such  as  the  Babylonian,  the  Aramaean,  or 
the  Arabian,  all  of  which  are  distinguished  by  marked 
linguistic  peculiarities.  Presumably  they  were  Amo- 
ritic tribes  of  Mesopotamia  who  were  dislodged  by 
the  advancing  hordes  of  the  Kassites  and  Mitanni 
and  were  compelled  to  seek  new  homes.  In  Meso- 
potamia they  had  come  under  the  influence  of  Baby- 
lonian civilization  ;  and  when  they  entered  Canaan, 
they  amalgamated  with  the  kindred  Amoritic  popula- 
tion and  maintained  its  civilization  unchanged.  The 
common  opinion  that  the  Hyksos  were  barbarians 
rests  upon  no  good  evidence.  On  the  contrary,  their 
kings  patronized  art  and  literature,  and  a  more  ex- 
tended commerce  sprang  up  under  their  rule  than 
had  existed  at  any  previous  period  of  Egyptian  his- 
tory. Neither  in  Egypt  nor  in  Palestine  is  there 
any  sign  of  an  overturning  of  civilization.  As  the 
Amarna  letters  show,  Babylonian  literature,  art,  and 
mythology  continued  to  hold  their  own  after  the 
invasion. 

After  a  rule  of  a  hundred  years  the  power  of  the 
Hyksos  began  to  decline.  The  princes  of  Thebes 
regained  strength  and  slowly  pushed  their  conquests 
northward.  Seqenenra  III.  of  the  XVIIth  dynasty 
(c.  1593)  was  the  king  under  whom  the  decisive  strug- 
gle with  the  Hyksos  began.     The  Bomance  of  Apepa 


THE   CANAANITIC    MIGRATION  71 

and  Seqenenra l  is  generally  supposed  to  rest  upon  a 
historical  basis.  It  relates  that  Apepa  was  king  in 
Auaris;  and  that,  desiring  to  pick  a  quarrel  with 
Seqenenra,  he  sent  messengers,  demanding  that  he 
should  worship  Sutech.  At  this  the  prince  of  Thebes 
and  his  people  were  in  great  perplexity.  Here  the 
papyrus  breaks  off.  It  seems  clear  that  it  went  on 
to  say  how  war  was  declared  between  the  two  rulers. 
The  mummy  of  Seqenenra  was  part  of  the  find  made 
in  1881  at  Deir  el  Bahri.  Its  condition  shows  that 
he  met  his  death  in  battle,  and  the  presumption  is 
that  he  fell  in  conflict  with  the  Hyksos. 

Aahhotep,  the  queen  of  Seqenenra,  had  by  him  a 
daughter,  Nefertari ;  and,  by  a  former  husband  pre- 
sumably, a  son,  Aahmes.  Aahmes  married  Nefertari, 
and  thus  became  the  founder  of  the  famous  XVIIIth 
dynasty.  Under  his  reign  the  expulsion  of  the 
Hyksos  took  place,  and  Egypt  began  a  career  of  con- 
quest in  Palestine  and  Syria  which  lasted  for  over 
three  centuries. 

The  onhy  contemporary  record  of  Aahmes's  defeat 
of  the  Hyksos  is  found  in  the  biography  of  his  name- 
sake, the  admiral  Aahmes,  which  he  inscribed  on  the 
walls  of  his  tomb  at  El-Kab.2     This  reads  as  follows : 

"  The  commander  of  the  sailors,  Aahmes,  son  of  the  late 
Abana,  speaks.  I  speak,  all  men,  to  you  ;  I  inform  you  of  the 
honours  that  have  been  bestowed  upon  me.  Seven  times  have 
I  been  presented  with  the  '  gold  of  bravery '  in  the  presence 

1  Sallier  Papyrus,  ii.  1 ;  Petrie,  History,  ii.  17  ;  Maspero,  Records 
of  the  Past,  New  Series,  ii.,  p.  37. 

-  Renouf,  Records  of  the  Past,  vi.,  p.  5  ;  Petrie,  History  of  Egypt, 
ii.,  pp.  21  ff.  ;  Wiedemann,  Gesch.  von  Alt-Acgypten,  pp.  72  ff. 


72  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

of  the  whole  land.  Slaves  male  and  female  I  have  acquired, 
with  all  that  belonged  to  them.  Many  estates  have  I  gathered. 
My  name,  which  is  rendered  famous  by  that  which  he  (I)  did, 
shall  never  be  forgotten  in  this  land . 

"I  was  born  in  the  city  of  Nekheb  (El-Kab).  My  fathei 
was  an  officer  of  the  late  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
Seqenenra;  Baba,  son  of  Eeant,  was  his  name.  I  became 
commander  in  his  place  of  the  ship  'Bullock,'  in  the  reign  of 
his  late  Majesty,  Aahmes,  lord  of  both  lands.  I  was  a  lad  then  ; 
I  was  not  married  ;  and  I  slept  in  a  youth's  garments.  By 
the  time  that  I  had  a  household  I  was  promoted  to  the  ship 
1  North '  on  account  of  my  valour.  It  was  my  duty  to  follow 
the  sovereign  (life,  blessings,  and  health  be  upon  him  !)  on  foot 
whenever  he  went  out  in  his  chariot. 

"  When  he  encamped  before  the  city  of  Hatuart  (Auaris),  I 
fought  bravely  before  His  Majesty.  For  this  I  was  promoted 
to  the  ship  'Gleaming-in-Memphis.'  We  fought  on  a  canal 
alongside  of  Auaris  ;  I  captured  booty,  and  carried  off  a  hand. 
This  was  reported  to  the  king,  and  I  received  the  '  gold  of 
bravery.'  There  was  fighting  again  in  the  same  place,  and  a 
second  time  I  captured  booty  and  brought  away  a  hand.  For 
this  I  received  a  second  time  the  'gold  of  bravery.'  After- 
wards there  was  fighting  at  Tekemet,  south  of  this  city,  and  I 
took  captive  a  living  prisoner.  I  fell  into  the  water,  but  nev- 
ertheless I  brought  him  forcibly  upon  the  road  leading  back 
to  the  fortress,  and  passed  with  him  through  the  water.  This 
was  reported  to  the  king,  and  I  received  the  'gold'  again. 
We  captured  Auaris,  and  I  took  there  one  male  and  three  fe- 
male prisoners,  in  all  four  prisoners.  His  Majesty  gave  them 
to  me  as  slaves. 

"  We  besieged  Sharhana  (Sharuhen)  for  five  years,  and  His 
Majesty  captured  it.  I  took  as  spoil  two  women  and  a  hand. 
The  king  bestowed  upon  me  the  'gold  of  bravery,'  and  the 
captives  were  presented  me  as  slaves." 

From  this  it  appears  that,  after  their  expulsion 
from  Auaris,  the  Hyksos  fell  back  upon  Palestine, 


THE    CANAANITIC    MIGRATION  73 

and  made  Sharuhen,  in  tlio  region  later  occupied  l)y 
the  tribe  of  Simeon,1  their  headquarters ;  that  Aahmes 
followed  them,  and  inflicted  so  great  a  defeat  that  all 
hope  of  again  invading  Egypt  was  taken  away  from 
them. 

At  the  quarries  of  Turah,  near  Cairo,  there  is  a  re- 
lief set  up  by  Aahmes  representing  the  dragging  of 
stone  in  sledges.  The  accompanying  inscription 
states  that  the  bearded  workmen  who  drive  the  oxen 
are  Fenkhu.  On  account  of  similarity  of  sound  this 
name  has  often  been  identified  with  "  Phoenician ; " 
but  the  investigations  of  Mulleiy  which  are  followed 
by  Maspero,3  show  rather  that  this  is  a  general  name 
for  "  enemies  "  or  "  aliens."  These  Fenkhu  are  in  all 
probability  Hyksos  prisoners. 

Aahmes  made  no  attempt  to  establish  permanent 
Egyptian  rule  in  Palestine,  but  he  put  the  con- 
quered tribes  under  tribute.  In  the  reign  of  his 
grandson,  Tahutimes  I.,  the  Canaanites  are  called 
"  rebels,"  which  implies  that  they  had  thrown  off 
some  sort  of  allegiance. 

The  expelled  Hyksos  joined  forces  with  their  kins- 
men who  had  already  occupied  the  cities  of  Palestine 
and  of  the  Syrian  coast ;  and,  mingling  with  the  older 
strata  of  population,  formed  the  race  that  the  Old  Tes- 
tament designates  as  "  Canaanites."  A  few  traces  of 
their  sojourn  in  Egypt  are  found  in  the  art  and  in  the 
religious  institutions  of  Palestine,  but  their  stay  was 
too  brief  to  make  a  deep  impression.  Canaan  after 
their  arrival  remained  the  same  that  it  had  been  before. 

1  Josh.  xix.  6.  '  Asia  und  Europa,  pp.  208  ff. 

3  History,  ii.,  p.  93  f. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   EGYPTIAN   SUPREMACY 
1553-1392  b.c. 

Aahmes's  Syrian  campaign  marks  the  beginning  of 
a  new  era  both  in  Egyptian  and  in  Palestinian  his- 
tory. A  hundred  years'  struggle  for  freedom  had 
trained  the  Egyptians  in  war,  and  had  overcome  their 
dread  of  Asiatics.  They  had  learned  to  use  horses 
and  chariots,  and  had  thus  greatly  increased  the 
efficiency  of  their  army.  Safety  demanded  that  the 
power  of  the  Hyksos  should  be  broken,  and  a  desire 
for  revenge  prompted  their  pursuit  even  into  the 
strongholds  of  Canaan.  The  earlier  expeditions  hav- 
ing proved  successful,  a  thirst  for  blood  and  for  booty 
was  aroused,  and  other  expeditions  were  undertaken. 
Babylon  had  withdrawn  from  the  field,  so  that  there 
was  no  powerful  enemy  to  be  encountered  until  Mi- 
tanni  was  reached  in  the  extreme  north.  Trade 
through  the  Red  Sea,  that  had  sprung  up  since  the 
Mesopotamian  overland  route  had  been  closed, 
brought  increased  wealth  and  made  Egypt  capable 
of  new  military  undertakings.  During  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty,  accordingly,  she  became  for  the  first  time  a 
world-power. 

Aahmes  was  succeeded  by  Amenhotep  (Amenophis) 
74 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  75 

I.,  his  son  by  his  half-sister  Nefertari  (c.  1553),  who 
confirmed  his  position  by  marrying  his  own  sister 
Aahhotep.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  very  young  man 
when  he  began  to  reign  and  to  have  stood  entirely 
under  the  influence  of  his  mother,  the  great  queen 
Nefertari,  through  whom  all  the  rights  of  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty  to  the  throne  were  derived.  There  is  no 
record  that  he  undertook  any  campaigns  in  Syria; 
but  since  his  son  claimed  this  region  and  regarded  its 
inhabitants  as  "  rebels,"  it  seems  likely  that,  impressed 
by  his  father's  victories,  the  Asiatics  continued  to  pay 
him  tribute. 

Tahutimes  I.  (c.  1544)  was  the  son  of  Amenhotep 
I.  (or  of  Aahmes)  by  the  concubine  Sensenb.  He 
became  king  by  marrying  his  half-sister  Aahmes. 
His  accession  was  the  signal  for  revolt  both  in  the 
South  and  in  the  North.  After  chastising  the  Ethi- 
opians in  the  manner  of  the  old  kings  of  the  Xllth 
dynasty,  he  invaded  Syria.  Our  only  knowledge  of 
this  campaign  is  derived  from  the  biographies  of  the 
captains  Aahmes  and  Pennekheb  on  their  tombs  at 
El-Kab.  Aahmes,  who  assisted  at  the  conquest  of 
Auaris,  must  now  have  been  a  very  old  man,  yet  he 
fought  at  the  head  of  his  troops  with  all  the  vigour  of 
youth,  and  was  presented  once  more  with  the  "  gold  of 
bravery."    His  account  of  the  campaign  is  as  follows : 

"  Thereupon  the  king  went  against  Ruten,  in  order  to  bathe 
his  heart  in  the  lands  of  the  barbarians.  His  Majesty  (may 
life,  peace,  and  health  be  upon  him  !)  found  the  enemy  that 
had  made  the  plot  against  him.  His  Majesty  inflicted  a  great 
defeat  upon  the  enemies ;  it  was  impossible  to  count  the  pris- 
oners that  His  Majesty  brought  back  from  his  victorious  ex- 


76  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

peditions.  Behold  I  was  at  the  head  of  our  troops.  His 
Majesty  saw  my  bravery.  I  presented  a  chariot  with  its  horses 
and  its  occupants  alive,  when  the  booty  was  brought  before 
His  Majesty ;  and  I  was  once  more  rewarded  with  the  '  gold 
of  bravery.'  Now  I  am  old,  I  have  reached  old  age.  My 
honours  are  those  of  a  chief  among  the  people  (?).  Henceforth 
I  shall  rest  in  the  tomb  that  I  have  made  for  myself." 

Ruten,  the  scene  of  Tahuthnes's  campaigns,  is  the 
general  name  in  the  Egyptian  inscriptions  for  Syria 
and  Northern  Palestine.  Pennekheb  adds  merely  the 
information  that  during  the  war  in  Naharina  he  cap- 
tured for  the  king  twenty-one  hands,  a  horse,  and  a 
chariot.  Naharina  is  Northern  Syria  and  Mesopo- 
tamia on  either  side  of  the  Euphrates,  the  Aram 
Naharaim  of  the  Old  Testament.  Tahutimes  III. 
records  that  he  set  up  a  tablet  commemorating  his 
victories,  in  the  same  place  where  his  father  had 
placed  one  before  him,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Euphrates.  Scanty  as  these  historical  notices  are, 
they  give  us  an  idea  of  the  greatness  of  the  successes 
of  Tahutimes  I.  Probably  he  did  not  penetrate  far 
beyond  the  Euphrates,  still  all  of  Syria  and  Palestine 
must  have  lain  at  his  feet.  Tribute  was  once  more 
imposed,  but  nothing  like  a  permanent  administration 
of  the  conquered  provinces  was  attempted. 

Under  Tahutimes  I.  diplomatic  relations  were  begun 
between  Egypt  and  Babylon,  as  we  learn  from  a  state- 
ment in  a  letter  of  Burnaburiash  to  Amenhotep  III. 
"From  the  time  of  Karaindash,  since  your  father's 
messengers  came  to  my  fathers,  unto  this  time,  they 
have  been  friendly."  '  Karaindash  was  the  contem- 
i  Wiuckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  8,  line  8. 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  77 

porary  of  Tahutimes  I.,  and  this  statement  is  an 
interesting  evidence  of  the  extent  of  the  latter's  polit- 
ical influence  in  Asia. 

Tahutimes  IT.  was  a  mere  figurehead ;  the  actual 
government  was  carried  on  by  his  sister  Hatshepsnt, 
who  cared  nothing  for  foreign  conquest.  His  half- 
brother  Tahutimes  III.  occupied  a  similar  position 
until,  after  the  death  of  Hatshepsut  (c.  1493),  he  be- 
came, at  the  age  of  fifty,  sole  master  of  Egypt.1 

Our  main  information  in  regard  to  Tahutimes's 
campaigns  is  derived  from  the  "  Annals "  which  he 
inscribed  upon  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Amen  at 
Karnak.2  These  Annals  contain  an  account  of  four- 
teen campaigns  that  the  king  made  in  Syria,  with  lists 
of  the  cities  conquered  and  of  articles  received  as 
tribute.  It  is  the  most  important  historical  docu- 
ment that  has  come  down  to  us  from  ancient  Egypt, 
and  is  the  first  source  that  gives  anything  like  a 
complete  picture  of  the  civilization  of  Syria  and 
Palestine.  It  is  supplemented  by  a  number  of  lesser 
monuments  of  the  king  and  by  private  inscriptions 
of  his  officials,  especially  the  inscription  of  Amenem- 
heb,  an  officer  who  accompanied  him  on  several  of 
his  campaigns.  The  story  of  Tahutimes's  reign  which 
we  gather  from  these  sources  is  as  follows  : 

Upon   his   accession   to   sole   authority  he  found 

1  On  the  relation  of  these  three  monarchs  see  Sethe,  Zeitschr.  f. 
agypt.  Sprache,  xxxvi.  1  f. ;  Steindorff,  Bliitezeit  d.  Pharaonen- 
reichs,  pp.  28-40. 

2  Maspero,  Recueil  de  Travaux,  i.,  ii. ;  Zeitschr.  f.  dgyptische 
Sprache,  1881,  p.  119  ;  Birch,  Records  of  the  Past,  ii.  35  sq.  (trans- 
lation unreliable)  ;  Brugsch,  Geschichte  Aegyptens,  pp.  295-305  ; 
Petrie,  History,  ii.  103  sq. 


7S  SYKIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Northern  Palestine  and  Syria  in  revolt.  The  king  of 
Qadesh,  the  capital  of  the  Amorites,  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Orontes,  had  formed  a  confederation 
into  which  he  had  drawn  a  number  of  petty  kings. 
Southern  Palestine  and  Phoenicia  remained  loyal. 
With  extraordinary  energy  Tahutimes  gathered  his 
forces,  and  in  the  same  year  marched  against  the 
rebels. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the  eighth  month,  i.e., 
about  April  17th  of  our  calendar,1  when  the  winter 
rains  were  over,  he  encamped  in  Zalu,  on  the  border 
of  Palestine.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Sharhana  in 
the  later  territory  of  Simeon,  to  Yeruza,  a  town  in 
the  same  neighbourhood,  and  to  Gazzatu  (Gaza),  the 
well-known  city  of  the  later  Philistine  territory. 
Here  he  began  his  twenty-third  year  and  celebrated 
the  feast  of  his  coronation  on  the  fourth  day  of  the 
month  Pakhons,  i.e.,  April  26th.  The  following  day 
he  marched  northward  by  the  regular  caravan-road. 

On  May  8th  he  encamped  at  Yehem,  a  town  lying 
to  the  south  of  Mount  Carmel.  Here  word  was 
brought  in  that  the  enemy  was  entrenched  in  Maketa 
(the  biblical  Megiddo,  and  the  modern  el  Lejjun2). 
Here  was  assembled  a  formidable  coalition  of  chief- 
tains from  Northern  Palestine,  the  land  of  the  Amo- 
rites, and  Naharina,  or  Northern  Syria,  resolved  to 
give  battle  in  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  they  could 

1  Breasted,  "The  Length  and  Season  of  Thutmose  III. 's  First 
Campaign,"  Zeitschr.  f.  agypt.  Sprache,  1899,  p.  123. 

2  See  G.  A.  Smith,  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,  pp. 
386  ff.  ;  Breasted,  Proceedings  of  the  Soc.  of  Bibl.  Archaeology, 
1900,  p.  96. 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  79 

use  their  chariots  to  the  greatest  advantage.  Tahuti- 
mes  called  a  council  of  war  to  discuss  the  best  way 
of  attacking  Megiddo.  His  generals  informed  him 
that  the  most  direct  route,  which  lay  over  Mount 
Aluna  (Heb.  El  yon),  was  narrow  and  difficult,  and 
that  there  was  danger  that  the  vanguard  would  be 
attacked  before  the  rear  could  come  up.  They  ad- 
vised, therefore,  that  the  more  circuitous  road  over 
Tanaka  (Taanach,  the  modern  Tannuk),  or  that  over 
Zefta  (Zephath)  should  bo  chosen.  Tahutimes  ex- 
pressed great  indignation  at  their  proposal,  which  he 
attributed  to  cowardice,  and  announced  his  deter- 
mination to  advance  by  the  route  which  led  through 
Aluna.  He  put  his  army  in  marching  order,  and  sent 
heralds  through  the  camp  to  call  for  volunteers  in 
the  dangerous  enterprise.  This  appeal  roused  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  soldiers,  and  they  cried  out  that 
they  would  follow  the  king  wherever  he  went. 

On  May  11th  the  Egyptian  army  reached  Aluna 
and  encamped  there  for  the  night.  The  following 
morning  Tahutimes  advanced  at  the  head  of  his 
troops  through  the  narrow  pass.  Here  he  was  at- 
tacked by  skirmishing  parties  of  the  enemy,  and 
deemed  it  wise  to  wait  in  the  mountains  until  the 
rear  of  his  forces  could  come  up.  By  noon  the  van- 
guard defiled  into  the  plain,  and  an  hour  later  the 
rear  passed  the  king.  When  all  had  come  through 
in  safety,  he  ordered  the  royal  tent  to  be  pitched  by 
the  Water  of  Qina  to  the  south  of  the  city  of  Megid- 
do. Then  he  gave  command  to  prepare  for  battle  on 
the  morrow.  The  baggage  was  unpacked,  rations 
were  distributed,  sentinels  were  posted,  the  watch- 


80  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

word  was  given,  and  spies  were  sent  out  to  examine 
the  state  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  May  13th  the  army  was 
set  in  battle-array.  The  right  wing  occupied  a  hill  to 
the  south  of  the  Water  of  Qina ;  the  left  wing  ex- 
tended to  the  northwest  of  Megiddo ;  and  the  king 
himself  occupied  the  centre,  riding  in  a  chariot  of 
electron  "  like  Horus  brandishing  his  arms,  the 
mighty  Lord,  like  Mentu,  the  god  of  Thebes."  At  the 
first  onset  of  the  Egyptians  terror  seized  the  Syrians, 
and  they  retreated  in  panic  upon  Megiddo,  leaving 
their  chariots  of  silver  and  gold  upon  the  field.  The 
people  of  the  city  closed  the  gates,  and  a  fearful 
slaughter  would  have  ensued,  had  not  the  cupidity  of 
the  Egyptian  soldiers  been  roused  at  sight  of  the 
spoil,  so  that  they  desisted  from  pursuing  the  enemy. 
This  gave  the  Syrians  time  to  draw  up  the  fugitives 
by  garments  let  down  from  the  walls,  and  among 
those  who  escaped  thus  was  the  king  of  Qadesh,  the 
ringleader  in  the  rebellion. 

Tahutimes  was  now  obliged  to  lay  siege  to  Megid- 
do. He  charged  his  soldiers  to  let  no  one  escape, 
since  the  kings  of  the  whole  country  were  shut  up 
within  it,  and  its  capture  would  mean  the  conquest  of 
a  thousand  cities.  In  order  to  beleaguer  it  more 
effectually  he  commanded  to  cut  down  all  the  trees  in 
the  neighbourhood  and  to  build  a  wall  enclosing  the 
place.  A  gate  was  made  in  this,  and  no  one  was 
allowed  to  pass  who  did  not  surrender  to  the  Egyp- 
tian sentries.  For  fuller  details  in  regard  to  the 
siege  the  inscriptions  here  refer  the  reader  to  a  journal 
of  Tahutimes's  campaigns,  that  was  written  on  a  roll 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  81 

of  leather  and  was  deposited  in  the  temple  of  Amen. 
Within  a  few  weeks  (he  besieged  Syrians  were  starved 
into  submission,  and  their  kings  came  out  to  pros- 
trate themselves  before  the  Pharaoh. 

On  one  of  the  pylons  of  the  temple  of  Karnak  is  a 
"  list  of  the  peoples  of  Upper  Ruten  which  His  Maj- 
esty shut  np  in  the  miserable  Maketa  (Megiddo),  from 
whom  he  took  their  children  as  living  captives  (i.e., 
hostages)  .  .  .  on  his  first  victorious  campaign."1 
This  list  contains  the  names  of  119  Syrian  towns. 
Among  them  occur  the  familiar  names  of  Qadeshu 
(Kadesh),  Maketa  (Megiddo),  Marama  (Merom),  Ti- 
masqi  (Damascus),  Khamatu  (Hamath),  Birutu  (Bei- 
rut), 'Astiratu  (Ashteroth),  Luisa  (Laish),  Kinncratu 
(Chinneroth),  Shanama  (Shunem),  Tanaka  (Tan- 
aach),  Yeblama  (Ibleam),  Anukhertu  (Anaharath), 
Yapu  (Joppa),  Gentu  (Gath),  Magdal  (Migdol),  Gerara 
(Gerar),  Eabbau  (Rabbah),  Aqar  (Ekron),  Audira'a 
(Adoraim),  Gazira  (Gezer),  Baarutu  (Beeroth),  Biti- 
sha'li  (Beth-el),  Biti-aniti  (Beth-anoth).  In  this  list 
occur  also  the  names  Joseph-el  and  Jacob-el  (numbers 
78  and  102),  whose  importance  for  the  criticism  of 
early  Hebrew  tradition  has  been  noted  already.2  Many 
of  the  other  names  can  be  identified  with  more  or  less 
probability  with  modern  Palestinian  towns.    The  list 

1  See  Conder,  Quarterly  Statement,  1876,  pp.  90-97,  140-148  ; 
Tomkins,  Records  of  the  Past,  2d  Series,  v. ;  Transactions  of  the 
Society  of  Biblical  Archeology,  1887,  p.  162 ;  Proceedings  of  the 
Soc.  Bibl.  ArchcBol.,  1893,  p  2~>~>  ;  Maspero,  Recueil  de  Travaux, 
ii.,  pp.  48-56,  139-150;  Transactions  of  the  Victoria  Institute, 
1886,  pp.  297  ff.  ;  Miiller.  Asien  und  Europa,  pp.  157  ff. ;  Petrie, 
History  of  Egypt,  ii.,  pp.  322  ff. 

5  Page  42. 


82  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

as  a  whole  shows  that  the  nomenclature  of  Canaan 
was  already  established  long  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Hebrews.  In  spite  of  all  later  migrations  and  con- 
quests, it  has  remained  practically  unchanged  from 
that  day  to  this. 

The  fall  of  Megiddo  was  the  signal  for  the  sur- 
render of  most  of  the  cities  of  Syria.  Envoys  came 
bringing  as  tribute,  horses,  chariots,  armour,  weapons, 
flocks  and  herds,  slaves,  gold  and  silver  vessels,  inlaid 
furniture  of  wood  and  of  ivory,  and  embroidered  gar- 
ments. Before  leaving  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  Ta- 
hutimes  had  the  entire  harvest,  amounting  to  150,000 
bushels  of  grain,  reaped  in  order  that  it  might  be 
carried  away  by  his  soldiers. 

The  cities  of  Yenuom,  Anaugasa,  and  Hurenkeru, 
in  the  land  of  the  Amorites,  which  refused  to  submit, 
he  attacked  and  speedily  captured.  In  a  single  sum- 
mer all  of  Palestine  and  Syria  was  subdued.  The 
army  returned  laden  with  booty,  bringing  hundreds 
of  male  and  female  captives,  and  driving  before  it 
innumerable  cattle. 

Tahutimes  III.  was  the  inaugurator  of  the  new 
policy  of  organizing  a  permanent  government  in  the 
conquered  provinces.  For  this  purpose  he  established 
fortresses  at  strategic  points.  In  his  Annals  they  are 
usually  spoken  of  as  "  halting-places,"  since  they  were 
towns  at  which  the  king  rested  on  his  expeditions. 
In  later  records  they  are  called  "royal  cities."  They 
were  garrisoned  with  Egyptian  troops,  who  in  the 
Amarna  letters  are  called  by  their  Egyptian  names 
pedate,  "  bowmen  "  and  Shardana,  i.e.,  "  mercenaries 
from  the  northern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,"  per- 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SI  I'll  KM  AC  Y  83 

Laps  "Sardinians."  The  fortresses  were  under  the 
command  of  Egyptian  officers  with  large  powers  as 
the  representatives  of  the  king,  and  to  them  was  en- 
trusted the  task  of  maintaining  order  and  of  collect- 
ing the  annual  tribute.  Koyal  couriers  passed  con- 
tinually to  and  fro  between  these  stations  and  the 
capital  at  Thebes,  bearing  reports  from  the  officials 
and  orders  from  the  king.  Nearly  every  summer 
Tahutimes  himself  visited  Syria  to  inspect  the  garri- 
sons, to  gather  up  the  tribute,  and  to  quell  any  dis- 
turbance that  might  have  arisen. 

In  the  administration  of  local  government  he  did 
not  attempt  to  interfere  beyond  securing  that  the  rul- 
ers should  be  loyal.  None  of  the  kings  mentioned  in 
the  Annals  or  in  the  Amarna  letters  have  Egyptian 
names.  After  the  battle  of  Megiddo  Tahutimes  re- 
appointed all  the  chieftains  who  submitted.  Kam- 
man-nirari,  king  of  Nukhashshi,  in  his  letter  to 
Amenhotep  IV.1  states  that  Manakhbi(r)ia  (i.e.,  Ta- 
hutimes III.)  established  his  grandfather  over  the 
kingdom  of  Nukhashshi  and  poured  oil  upon  his 
head.  This  shows  that  anointing  was  the  regular 
method  of  inducting  appointees  into  office.  In  order 
to  secure  the  good  behaviour  of  these  rulers  their  sons 
were  carried  as  hostages  to  Egypt.  Here  they  were 
educated  in  Egyptian  learning  ;  and  when  vacancies 
occurred  at  home,  either  through  death  or  through 
rebellion,  they  were  sent  back  to  till  the  places.  In 
this  way  it  was  hoped  that  the  lo}ralty  of  the  most 
troublesome  provinces  might  gradually  be  secured. 
Tahutimes  rarely  interfered  with  the  regular  succes- 
1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  37. 


84  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

sion  to  the  petty  thrones  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  and 
then  only  for  good  cause;  but  he  always  insisted 
that  the  heir  should  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  and 
should  enter  office  as  one  of  his  officials.  From  cer- 
tain princes,  whose  loyalty  was  unquestioned,  hostages 
were  not  demanded.  When  they  died,  their  heirs 
began  to  reign  at  once ;  but  they  sent  messengers  to 
obtain  the  sanction  of  the  Pharaoh  and  to  bring  back 
the  anointing  oil  that  he  sent  as  a  sign  of  his  ap- 
proval of  the  de  facto  government.  Thus  the  prince 
of  Kumidi  writes  to  one  of  Tahutimes's  successors : 

"  I  am  thy  faithful  servant.  Let  my  lord,  the  king,  ask  all 
his  deputies  whether  I  am  not  the  faithful  servant  of  my  lord, 
the  king,  .  .  .  and  let  my  lord,  the  king,  condescend  and  let 
oil  be  brought.  .  .  .  Behold  I  have  sent  my  son  to  the  coun- 
try of  my  lord,  the  king  ;  and  may  he  bring  the  oil  from  my 
lord  the  king."  l 

When  the  Pharaoh  held  the  king  of  a  city  in  cap- 
tivity, or  when  he  did  not  see  fit  to  send  on  the  heir 
whom  he  retained  as  hostage,  the  affairs  of  the  place 
were  administered  during  the  interregnum  by  a  coun- 
cil of  elders.  Thus  a  letter  from  the  city  of  Tunip 
to  Amenhotep  IV.  is  headed  "  the  inhabitants  of 
Tunip."     In  it  we  read : 

"And  now  for  twenty  years  we  have  been  sending  to  the 
king,  our  lord,  but  our  messengers  remain  with  the  king,  our 
lord  ;  and  now,  O  lord,  we  have  requested  from  the  king,  our 
lord  (the  return  of)  Yadi-Addu,  and  may  our  lord  give  him. 
For  our  lord,  the  king,  gave  Yadi-Addu,  and  why  did  our 
lord,  the  king,  cause  him  while  in  the  way  to  return  ?  " 

1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  141.  *  Ibid.,  No.  41. 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  85 

Similarly  a  letter  from  the  city  of  Irqata  begins : 
"Irqata  and  its  elders  fall  down  seven  times  and 
seven  times  at  the  feet  of  our  lord,  the  king  ;" !  and 
another  letter  is  from  "  the  people  who  are  holding 
Gebal."  a 

All  the  subject  princes  were  required  to  appear  on 
stated  occasions  in  the  royal  fortresses  to  adore  tho 
image  of  Amen-Ra,  the  great  god  of  Thebes,  and 
also  the  image  of  the  Pharaoh.  The  cult  of  the  king 
seems  to  have  consisted  in  burning  incense ;  hence 
when  a  beleaguered  town  wished  to  surrender,  it  sig- 
nified this  by  waving  a  censer  upon  its  battlements. 
In  a  letter  from  Tunip  to  Amenhotep  IV.3  mention 
is  made  of  the  images  of  the  gods  and  of  himself 
that  Tahutimes  III.  had  placed  in  this  city. 

An  annual  tribute  was  laid  upon  the  provinces, 
and  any  delay  in  payment  was  interpreted  as  an  act 
of  rebellion.  No  excuses  were  accepted  ;  even  war, 
famine,  or  pestilence  did  not  secure  remission.  How 
this  tribute  was  levied,  and  how  heavy  it  was,  we  are 
not  informed.  The  lists  of  Tahutimes  contain  re- 
ports of  indemnities  received  from  conquered  cities 
rather  than  yearly  dues  from  submissive  ones.  In 
any  case  the  tribute  was  not  light.  It  consisted  of 
"all  the  good  things  of  the  laud."  Gold  and  silver 
were  naturally  in  chief  demand ;  but  when  these 
could  not  be  furnished,  food,  cattle,  clothing,  aud 
utensils  of  every  sort  were  accepted.  If  a  region 
produced  copper,  lead,  or  other  valuable  minerals, 
those  were  placed  upon  its  list.     If  it  manufactured 

1  Winekler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  122. 
'    2  Ibid.,  No.  07.  3  Ibid.,  No.  41. 


S6  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

chariots,  arms,  or  other  useful  products,  it  was  re- 
quired to  furnish  these.  The  kings  were  obliged  to 
give  up  their  sous  as  hostages,  and  to  send  their 
daughters  to  become  concubines  in  the  Pharaoh's 
harem,  or  to  be  bestowed  by  him  upon  his  favourites. 
Slaves  were  also  part  of  the  regular  tribute. 

Besides  this  tribute  all  sorts  of  extraordinary 
demands  were  made  upon  the  unfortunate  vassals. 
They  were  required  to  support  the  garrisons  posted 
in  their  midst,  and  to  furnish  supplies  to  troops  that 
passed  through  their  territories.  Royal  messengers 
had  to  be  entertained,  and  caravans  had  to  be  con- 
ducted safely  to  the  frontier.  The  Egyptian  deputies 
must  be  bribed  with  handsome  presents,  or  they 
would  hold  back  the  tribute  that  passed  through 
their  hands  and  report  the  sender  as  one  who  had  not 
paid.  In  case  a  neighbouring  prince  revolted  they 
were  required  to  furnish  troops  to  help  put  down  the 
rebellion. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  Syrians  did  not  submit  cheerfully  to  the  Egyp- 
tian yoke,  and  lost  no  opportunity  to  throw  it  off, 
when  they  had  the  smallest  hope  of  success. 
Scarcely  a  year  passed  from  Tahutimes's  first  expedi- 
tion to  the  end  of  his  life  when  he  was  not  compelled 
to  quell  a  rebellion  in  some  part  of  Syria.  Even  the 
princes  reared  at  the  Egyptian  court,  who  were  ex- 
pected to  support  Egyptian  interests,  usually  found 
the  pressure  too  strong,  when  they  returned  home, 
and  rebelled  like  the  rest. 

Rebellion,  or  refusal  to  pay  tribute,  which 
amounted  to  the  same  thing,  was  visited  with  swift 


THE    EGYPTIAN   SUPREMACY  87 

and  terrible  punishment.  The  refractory  city  was 
given  over  to  pillage  and  its  skilled  workmen  were 
carried  away  into  slavery.  Its  king  was  taken  to 
Thebes  to  be  slain  before  Amen,  against  Avhose 
majesty  he  had  sinned ;  another  member  of  the 
royal  family  was  appointed  in  his  place,  and  the 
annual  tribute  was  increased.  If  after  this  lesson, 
the  place  dared  to  revolt  again,  it  could  look  for 
no  mercy. 

The  prince  wrho  was  suspected  of  plotting  rebellion 
wras  summoned  to  appear  in  Egypt  and  give  an  ac- 
count of  himself.  Such  a  summons  was  dreaded  al- 
most as  much  as  a  declaration  of  war,  since  it  in- 
volved an  enormous  expenditure.  The  suspected  man 
had  to  travel  with  a  costly  retinue,  to  carry  presents 
for  the  Pharaoh  and  for  his  officers,  and  to  dispense 
bribes  on  all  sides.  Besides,  the  chances  were  that 
this  outlay  would  avail  him  nothing,  but  that  he 
would  be  shut  up  for  the  rest  of  his  life  in  an  Egyp- 
tian prison.  It  is  small  wonder  that  a  number  of  the 
Amarna  letters  are  devoted  to  excuses  and  apologies 
for  not  answering  an  invitation  to  appear  at  court.  It 
is  also  easy  to  understand  why  the  princes  continually 
seek  to  cast  suspicion  of  conspiracy  upon  their  rivals. 
One  of  the  most  amusing  features  of  the  Amarna  cor- 
respondence is  the  way  in  which  the  kings  accuse  one 
another  of  treason,  while  protesting  their  own  fidel- 
ity to  the  Pharaoh. 

In  return  for  homage  and  prompt  payment  of  trib- 
ute Pharaoh  furnished  his  vassals  protection  against 
one  another  and  against  foreign  invasion.  The  eld- 
ers of  Tunip  allude  to  this  in  their  letter  to  Amen- 


83  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

hotep  IV.  "In  former  times  who  could  have  plun- 
dered Tunip  without  being  plundered  by  Manakhbiria 
(Tahutimes  III.)."  Considering  the  fact  that  all  the 
petty  rulers  had  blood-feuds  with  one  another  and 
were  all  waiting  for  a  chance  to  fly  at  one  another's 
throats,  it  was  no  small  advantage  that  they  had  over 
them  a  power  strong  enough  to  keep  them  in  order, 
or  at  least  to  compel  them  to  forget  their  jeal- 
ousies in  hostility  to  the  common  enemy.  Tahuti- 
mes's  system  of  government  was  far  from  ideal ;  its 
sole  aim  was  to  exploit  the  provinces;  it  made  no 
attempt  to  incorporate  them  with  Egypt,  or  to  imbue 
them  with  Egyptian  civilization  ;  nevertheless,  it  can- 
not be  doubted  that  on  the  whole  it  was  a  blessing. 
It  maintained  peace  and  order  in  a  way  that  the  Ca- 
naanites  themselves  had  never  been  able  to  secure. 
It  promoted  commerce,  encouraged  art,  opened  up 
communication  between  distant  regions,  and  thus 
fostered  the  growth  and  the  spread  of  civilization. 

For  the  period  after  Tahutimes's  first  campaign 
the  information  given  by  the  Annals  is  exceedingly 
meagre.  The  scribe,  who  was  commissioned  to  cover 
a  certain  number  of  square  feet  of  temple- wall  with 
inscriptions,  devoted  so  much  space  to  the  siege  and 
the  capture  of  Megiddo  that  he  had  little  room  left 
for  the  king's  later  campaigns.  Unfortunately  for 
us,  he  decided  to  abbreviate  the  Annals  by  cutting 
out  the  narrative  portions  and  giving  merely  the  lists 
of  tribute  received  and  of  booty  taken  during  the 
later  years  of  his  master's  reign.  Incidentally  these 
lists  mention  the  expeditions  that  were  undertaken, 
and  furnish  some  geographical  information;  but  in 


THH    E(iYPTIAX    SCI'KKM  ACY  g9 

the  main  they  are  dry  and  disappointing  in  compari- 
son with  the  beginning  of  the  Annals. 

The  year  following  his  first  campaign,  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  his  reign,  Tahutimes  made  a  second  expe- 
dition to  Syria  to  receive  his  tribute.  His  Annals 
record  with  satisfaction  the  treasures  that  he  secured. 
They  were  similar  to  those  of  the  previous  year,  and 
included  besides  golden  dishes,  inlaid  tent-poles,  jars 
of  incense,  wine,  and  honey,  and  various  sorts  of 
precious  woods. 

In  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  reign  he  made  a 
third  expedition.  This  time,  in  addition  to  the  usual 
tribute,  ho  brought  back  a  collection  of  trees  and 
shrubs  to  set  out  at  Thebes  in  the  gardens  of  the 
temple  of  Amen.  A  fourth  expedition  was  made  in 
the  twenty-sixth  year,  about  which  no  details  are 
known.  In  the  twenty-seventh  year  the  king  re- 
mained at  home,  trusting  to  his  garrisons  to  main- 
tain order  and  to  exact  tribute.  His  absence  seems  to 
have  been  interpreted  as  a  sign  of  weakness,  for  the 
cities  of  Phoenicia  and  of  Syria  broke  out  in  revolt. 

In  the  twenty-ninth  year,  he  set  out  to  chastise 
the  rebels.  Tunep  (probably  the  modern  Tenneb, 
eighteen  miles  north  of  Aleppo )  was  this  time  the 
centre  of  the  revolution.  After  visiting  one  of  the 
cities  in  which  the  tribute  of  the  year  was  stored  and 
giving  thanks  there  to  the  gods,  he  marched  upon 
Tunep  and  took  it  by  storm.  It  yielded  a  rich  booty  : 
twenty  pounds  of  silver,  twenty  pounds  of  gold,  lapis 
lazuli,  malachite,  vases  of  bronze  and  of  copper,  cop- 
per, lead,  emery,  male  and  female  slaves,  besides  the 
king  of  the  city  with  three  hundred  warriors. 


90  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

On  his  return  Taliutimes  traversed  Phoenicia. 
Aratu  (the  Arvad  of  the  Old  Testament,  Arados  of 
the  Greeks,  and  the  modern  Kuad)  was  the  point  at 
which  he  emerged  on  the  coast.  Here  he  reaped  the 
grain  and  cut  down  the  fruit-trees.  Thence  he  pro- 
ceeded southward  along  the  coast.  He  found  "  the 
orchards  full  of  fruits,  the  vats  filled  with  wine  as 
with  water,  the  threshing-floors  heaped  with  grain 
more  abundant  than  the  sand  on  the  sea-shore."  So 
great  was  the  plenty  that  the  soldiers  "got  drunk 
every  day,  and  anointed  themselves  with  oil  as  on 
holidays  in  Egypt." 

In  his  thirtieth  year  Tahutimes  made  a  sixth 
campaign  in  Syria.  Qadesh,  the  capital  of  the  Amo- 
rites,  was  captured  and  its  crops  and  fruit-trees  were 
destroyed.  Zamara  (Simyra,  the  modem  Sumra) 
and  Arvad  were  treated  in  a  similar  manner. 

In  the  thirty-first  year  the  king  pushed  his  con- 
quests farther  northward  than  at  any  previous  time. 
The  city  of  Anrathu  in  the  district  of  Tikhis,  a  region 
of  Northern  Syria,  was  conquered  and  the  usual  spoil 
was  carried  away.  This  time  the  list  of  articles 
brought  back  to  Egypt  was  so  long  that  the  scribe 
who  composed  the  inscription  at  Karnak  did  not  in- 
sert it,  but  contented  himself  with  the  statement, 
"  They  are  placed  on  a  roll  in  the  palace  of  the  king : 
an  enumeration  of  them  is  not  given  in  this  list  lest 
there  should  be  too  many  words." 

In  the  thirty-second  year  Tahutimes  apparently 
stayed  at  home ;  but  in  the  thirty-third  year,  insur- 
rection breaking  out  once  more,  he  was  compelled  to 
make  an  eighth  expedition.     This  time  he  carried  his 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  91 

arms  beyond  the  Euphrates.  Crossing  the  river  at 
Karikamasha  (Carchemish),  he  invaded  the  territory 
of  Mitaimi.  Here  he  found  the  monument  that  his 
grandfather  Talmtimes  I.  had  erected,  and  placed 
one  of  his  own  beside  it.  A  powerful  coalition  of  the 
chieftains  of  Mitanni  came  out  to  meet  him  ;  but 
when  he  encountered  them  "  they  fled  before  him  like 
a  herd  of  gazelles."  He  marched  through  the  land 
destroying  and  pillaging  the  towns,  and  seems  to 
have  penetrated  as  far  as  the  river  Balikh.  At  this 
stage  of  the  campaign  the  king  of  Sangara  (perhaps  = 
Shinar,  or  Babylonia)  deemed  it  prudent  to  buy  him 
off  from  further  advance  with  costly  presents  of  real 
and  of  artificial  lapis  lazuli  and  with  ornamental  vases. 

On  his  return  Talmtimes  passed  through  Niy.  The 
exact  location  of  this  city  is  unknown.  According  to 
Miiller,  it  was  situated  near  the  point  where  the 
Euphrates  begins  to  bend  eastward.  According  to 
Maspero  and  Petrie,  it  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Aleppo.  During  his  stay  in  this  place,  as  the  biogra- 
phy of  Amenemheb  informs  us,  the  king  engaged  in  a 
great  elephant-hunt.  Elephants  have  long  since  dis- 
appeared from  Syria,  but  in  those  days  they  were 
numerous,  and  he  succeeded  in  slaying  120.  At  one 
time  he  was  in  danger  of  being  killed  by  the  leader 
of  the  herd,  but  his  officer  Amenemheb  rushed  into 
the  water  between  two  rocks  and  rescued  him  "by 
hewing  off  the  animal's  trunk. 

On  the  homeward  march  the  king  was  met  by  am- 
bassadors of  the  great  Khate  (Hittites)  bringing  silver 
rings  weighing  sixty  pounds,  white  gems,  and  rare 
woods.     This   is   the   first   appearance  in  Egyptian 


92  SYKIA    AND    PALESTINE 

history  of  the  race  which  200  years  later  became  the 
most  formidable  antagonist  of  the  kings  of  the  XlXth 
dynasty.  At  this  time  it  had  not  begun  its  career  of 
conquest,  but  was  still  settled  in  its  ancient  home 
beyond  the  Taurus  range.  The  present  is  recorded 
under  the  head  of  "tribute,"  but  it  is  clear  that  in  re- 
ality it  was  nothing  more  than  a  diplomatic  courtesy. 

A  list  of  350  towns  of  Northern  Syria  captured  by 
Tahutimes  III.  is  sculptured  on  the  walls  of  the 
temple  of  Karnak.  The  majority  of  the  names  are 
still  unidentified.  Among  them,  however,  may  be 
recognized  Khamatu  (Hamath),  Tunep,  Niy,  Khalbu 
(Aleppo),  and  other  famous  cities  of  the  Egyptian, 
Hebrew,  and  Assyrian  records.1 

In  his  thirty-fourth  year  Tahutimes  invaded  Zahi 
(Phoenicia)  and  captured  Anaugasa,  a  town  to  the 
south  of  Sidon  on  the  side  of  Mount  Lebanon.  Here 
he  took  advantage  of  his  nearness  to  the  forests 
to  transport  a  quantity  of  timber.  Ships  of  Kupni 
(Gebal)  and  of  Kefto  (probably  Crete,  according  to 
others  Cilicia,  or  Phoenicia)  were  laden  with  beams 
of  cedar,  and  were  despatched  to  Egypt. 

In  his  thirty-fifth  year  a  formidable  revolt  broke 
out  in  Naharina  (the  region  on  either  side  of  the 
Euphrates).  The  chief  of  Naharina,  i.e.,  probably 
the  king  of  Mitanni,  had  formed  a  coalition  of  chief- 
tains and  had  made  Aroana,  a  city  of  unknown 
location,  his  headquarters.  Tahutimes  fought  in  per- 
son at  the  head  of  his  troops  and  was  once  more 
successful,  capturing  an  immense  quantity  of  booty. 

1  See  Tomkins,  Trans.  Soc.  Bill.  Archceology,  ix.,  pp.  223-254, 
where  also  references  to  other  literature  are  given. 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPKEMACY  93 

For  the  thirty-sixth  and  thirty-seventh  years  there 
is  no  record  in  the  Annals.  Tahutimes  must  have 
made  expeditions,  since  the  campaign  in  the  thirty- 
eighth  year  is  numbered  as  the  thirteenth.  This 
year  Phoenicia  was  visited,  and  the  rebellious  city  of 
Anaugasa  was  chastised  a  second  time.  The  follow- 
ing three  years  apparently  were  marked  also  by  ex- 
peditions to  Syria,  and  in  the  forty-second  year  a 
serious  revolt  broke  out  with  Qadesh  as  its  centre. 
This  city  had  been  strongly  fortified  with  new  walls, 
and  bolieved  itself  able  to  defy  the  Pharaoh.  To  this 
period  of  the  history  belongs  probably  the  account 
of  the  siege  of  Qadesh  in  the  biography  of  Amenem- 
heb.  While  the  army  of  Tahutimes  was  drawn  up 
before  the  city,  its  inhabitants  let  loose  a  mare,  which 
threatened  to  produce  disorder  among  the  war-stallions 
of  the  Egyptians.  Perceiving  the  peril,  Amenemheb 
ran  out,  ripped  the  mare  up  with  his  sword,  and 
brought  her  tail  back  as  a  trophy.  For  this  deed  he 
received  great  praise  from  the  king.  At  the  capture 
of  the  city  he  led  the  storming  party,  and  was  re- 
warded for  his  valour  with  rich  gifts.  After  the  fall 
of  Qadesh  the  whole  of  Syria  once  more  submitted  to 
Egyptian  rule  and  paid  its  annual  tribute. 

With  the  forty-second  year  the  Annals  come  to  an 
end  with  the  words  :  "  His  Majesty  commanded  that 
the  victories  which  he  had  won  from  the  twenty-third 
to  the  forty-second  year  of  his  reign  should  be  re- 
corded on  this  tablet  in  this  sanctuary." 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  during  the 
remaining  twelve  years  of  his  life  Tahutimes's  career 
of  conquest  was  in  any  way  checked.     Perhaps,  as  he 


94  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

grew  older,  lie  intrusted  the  expeditions  to  his  son  or 
to  his  generals,  still  the  flow  of  tribute  was  unchecked 
up  to  the  day  of  his  death.  Under  his  rule  Egypt 
reached  the  acme  of  her  power ;  her  territory  ex- 
tended from  Ethiopia  to  Asia  Minor,  and  from  Phoe- 
nicia to  the  Euphrates.  The  memory  of  his  greatness 
lasted  long  in  Syria.  Three  generations  later  his  name 
and  the  vigour  of  his  rule  were  still  well  known  to  the 
writers  of  the  Amarna  letters. 

After  his  death  the  Syrian  provinces  promptly  re- 
volted. Amenhotep  II.,  the  son  of  Tahutimes  and 
the  princess  royal  Meryra  (c.  1461),  was  compelled, 
therefore,  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  reign  to  make 
an  expedition.  The  rebels  withstood  him  at  Shemesh- 
aduma  in  North  Galilee  and  in  Lebanon,  but  he  de- 
feated them  without  difficulty.  He  then  advanced  as 
far  as  Niy,  one  of  the  chief  towns  of  Northern  Syria. 
Here  the  inhabitants  appeared  on  the  walls  burning 
incense  in  adoration  of  his  divinity.  The  city  of 
Tikhis,  which  refused  to  surrender,  was  captured, 
and  seven  chieftains  who  had  taken  refuge  in  it  were 
smitten  by  the  king's  own  club.  Their  bodies  were 
brought  to  Thebes  hanging  to  the  prow  of  the  royal 
vessel.  Six  were  suspended  on  the  walls,  and  one 
was  sent  to  Nubia  as  an  object-lesson  to  rebels  in 
that  region. 

Beyond  this  expedition  there  is  no  record  of  other 
campaigns.  Apparently  the  Asiatics  settled  down  to 
the  conviction  that  it  was  impossible  to  shake  off  the 
Egyptian  yoke,  and  decided  that  it  was  safer  to  pay 
their  tribute  regularly  than  to  expose  themselves  to 
the  punishment  of  rebellion. 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  95 

Amenhotep  II.  left  only  daughters  of  pure  royal 
blood,  and  Tahutiuies  IV.  (c.  1436),  the  son  of  a  con- 
cubine, was  legitimatized  by  marrying  his  half-sister 
the  princess  Mutemua.  The  records  of  his  reign  are 
scanty,  but  the  stele  of  one  of  his  officers  speaks  of 
his  "  first  campaign  in  Naharina,"  and  the  monument 
of  another  officer  depicts  Syrians  bringing  him  tribute. 
It  appears,  accordingly,  that  he  maintained  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  empire  bequeathed  by  his  father.  He 
did  not  attempt,  however,  to  extend  its  borders,  but 
chose  rather  to  make  treaties  with  the  kings  of  the 
neighbouring  states.  The  daughter  of  Artatama,  king 
of  Mitanni,  he  asked  in  marriage  ;  and  although  Arta- 
tama was  at  first  unwilling  to  grant  her,  he  at  last 
consented.1 

The  reign  of  Tahutimes  IV.  was  brief,  and  about 
1427  B.C.  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Amenhotep 
III.  Few  Egyptian  monarchs  reigned  under  more 
favorable  auspices.  His  right  to  the  throne  was  un- 
contested, for  he  was  a  son  of  a  reigning  Pharaoh 
and  of  a  princess  of  royal  blood.  It  was  even  re- 
ported that  in  him  the  god  Amen  had  interposed  to 
renew  the  solar  line.  Assuming  the  form  of  Tahuti- 
mes IV.,  he  had  appeared  to  the  princess  Mutemua, 
and  had  become  by  her  the  father  of  Amenhotep. 

He  was  heir  to  a  mighty  empire,  thoroughly  con- 
solidated by  his  forefathers,  and  accustomed  to  the 
Egyptian  yoke.  No  war  is  recorded  during  his 
thirty-years  reign.  His  expeditions  into  the  prov- 
inces were  merely  tours  of  inspection,  on  which  he 
amused  himself  with  hunting.  It  is  recorded  that 
1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  21,  lines  16  ff. 


96  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

during  his  first  ten  years  he  slew  with  his  own  hand 
102  lions.  Tribute  flowed  in  regularly  from  all  the 
subject  peoples,  and  the  superabundant  wealth  was 
employed  in  building  the  temples  of  Soleb,  of  Luq- 
sor,  and  of  Elephantine.  With  peace  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  with  his  supremacy  acknowledged  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  his  reign  was  the  most 
splendid  in  Egyptian  history. 

For  the  condition  of  Syria  and  Palestine  under  his 
rule  we  have  for  the  first  time  native  sources  of  infor- 
mation in  the  famous  Amarna  letters,  to  which  refer- 
ence has  frequently  been  made  already.1  The  larger 
part  of  these  letters  was  addressed  to  Amenhotep 
IV.,  still  several  name  his  father.  It  is  probable  also 
that  among  the  anonymous  letters  written  before  the 
decline  of  Egyptian  rule  a  number  were  sent  to 
Amenhotep  III.  In  any  case,  letters  of  this  sort  de- 
pict conditions  that  prevailed  during  his  reign. 

Although  these  letters  are  written  in  Babylonian, 
they  disclose  repeatedly  the  native  tongue  of  the 
authors  by  the  glosses  which  they  append  to  Baby- 
lonian words.  Thus  after  khal-qa-at  is  added  the 
translation  a-ba-da,  "  perish  ;  "  after  i-pi-ra,  a-pa-ru, 
"  dust ;  "  after  shadi,  kha-ar-ri,  "  mountain  ;  "  after 
JchuJchari,  hilubi,  "cage."  From  these  glosses,  as 
well  as  from  numerous  expressions  scattered  through 
the  letters,  it  appears  that  the  language  of  Syria  and 
Palestine  was  merely  an  older  dialect  of  the  same 
language  that  was  spoken  in  later  times  by  the  He- 
brews, Phoenicians,  Moabites,   Edomites,  and  other 

1  See  particularly  p.  49.  For  literature  on  the  Amarna  letters 
and  Amarna  period  see  p.  xxxii. 


ZIRI  -VBASHANI 

Ashtarti  ^ 


SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

IN  THE 

LETTERS 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  97 

nations  of  Canaan.  The  proper  names  are  either 
the  same  that  we  meet  in  the  Old  Testament  or  are 
of  similar  formation. 

Kinakhni  or  (Ace.)  Kinaklma  (by  foreigners  less 
accurately  written  Kinakhkhi  or  Kinakhkhi),  i.e., 
Kena'an,  "  Canaan,"  is  the  name  applied  in  the  Amarna 
letters  to  the  whole  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  including 
the  region  east  of  the  Jordan.  A  passport  designed  to 
carry  a  Babylonian  messenger  all  the  way  to  Egypt 
is  addressed  "  to  the  kings  of  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  " 
and  in  like  manner  Burnaburiash,  king  of  Babylon, 
speaks  of  the  Syrian  chieftains  who  wished  to  form 
an  alliance  with  his  father  against  Egypt  as  "  the 
Canaanites  altogether."  "  Canaan  is  thy  land,"  says 
Burnaburiash  to  Amenhotep  with  reference  to  his 
entire  Asiatic  domain. 

The  northernmost  district  of  Syria  is  known  in  the 
Amarna  letters  as  Narinia  or  Nakhrima,  which  is  the 
same  as  Naharina  of  the  Egyptian  monuments,  and 
Naharaim  of  the  Old  Testament.  South  of  Narima 
lies  Amurru,  i.e.,  "the  Amorites,"  or,  as  it  was  writ- 
ten  ideographical ly  in  old  Babylonian  fashion, 
MAB-TU.1  The  name  applies  to  the  region  directly 
behind  the  North  Phoenician  coast.  East  of  Amurru 
and  south  of  Narima  lies  Nukhashshi.  South  of 
Amurru  and  Nukhashshi  is  the  land  of  Qadesh,  with 
Qadesh  on  the  Orontes  as  its  capital.  South  of 
Qadesh  to  the  west  is  the  land  of  Amqi,  and  to  the 
east  Ubi,  with  Damascus  as  its  capital.  South  of 
Amqi  and  Ubi  lies  Gar  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jor- 
dan in  the  vicinity  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  Ziri- 
1  See  pp.  16,  30. 


98  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Bashani,  or  "the  chain  of  Bashan,"  east  of  the 
Jordan.  For  Phoenicia  and  for  Southern  Palestine 
there  are  no  specific  names. 

About  150  cities  and  towns  are  mentioned  in  the 
Amarna  letters,  and  of  these  at  least  100  can  be 
identified  with  modern  sites  with  reasonable  cer- 
tainty. Others,  which  cannot  be  identified,  are 
known  to  be  the  equivalents  of  Egyptian  or  of  Old 
Testament  names.  Beginning  in  the  north,  we  have 
Tunip,  the  modern  Tenneb,  eighteen  miles  north  of 
Aleppo,  and  Ni,  the  Niy  of  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, whose  location  is  uncertain.  Coming  farther 
south,  we  find  on  the  coast  Arwada  (Arvad),  and 
Tsumur  (Simyra) ;  and  inland,  Qideshu  (Qadesh). 
Still  further  south  on  the  coast  are  Biruta,  or  Bi- 
runa  (Beirut),  Tsiduna  (Sidon),  and  Tsurri  (Tyre) ; 
and  inland,  Dimashqa  or  Timashgi  (Damascus). 
South  of  Sidon  lies  Akka  (Acre)  ;  and  inland,  Mag- 
dali  (Magdala  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee)  and  Magidda 
(Megiddo,  Khan  Lejjun).  On  the  Palestinian  coast 
are  Yapu  (Joppa),  Asqaluna  (Ashkelon),  Azzati  or 
Khazzati  (Gaza) ;  and  inland,  Urusalim  (Jerusalem), 
and  Lakish  (Lachish). 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  country  represented 
by  these  districts  and  cities  Egyptian  authority  was 
unquestioned.  In  the  days  of  Amenhotep  III.  the 
Canaanites  had  been  tributary  so  long  that  they  had 
come  to  regard  this  condition  as  one  that  had  always 
existed.  "  Gebal  has  been  thy  slave  and  the  slave 
of  thy  fathers  for  ages,"  writes  Kabimur.  "  Gebal, 
his  slave,  has  been  a  city  of  the  king  for  ages," 
writes  Bib-Addi.     "  As  my  fathers  have  been  in  the 


THE    EGYPTIAN    SUPREMACY  99 

service  of  thy  fathers,  so  will  I  be,"  writes  a  prince 
of  Syria  who  wishes  to  be  confirmed  in  office.  "  Since 
my  fathers  became  thy  servants,  this  land  has  been 
thy  land,  the  city  of  Qatna  thy  city,  and  I  belong 
to  my  lord,"  writes  Akizzi  of  Qatna.  "  As  long  as 
ships  have  been  upon  the  sea,  the  mighty  arm  of 
the  king  has  occupied  Nakhrima  and  Kashshi  (Syria 
and  Babylonia1  or  Ethiopia?),"  writes  Abd-khiba  of 
Jerusalem. 

In  their  professions  of  loyalty  the  senders  of  the 
Amarna  letters  are  most  profuse.  They  address  the 
Pharaoh  as  "  king,  king  of  Egypt,  great  king,  king  of 
the  lands,  king  of  battle,  my  lord,  lord  of  the  lands, 
my  father,  my  sun,  the  sun  of  heaven,  the  sun  of  the 
lands,  my  god,  the  breath  of  my  life."  Occasionally 
they  append  "  son  of  Shamash,"  as  a  translation  of 
the  Egyptian  title  "  son  of  Ra,"  with  the  absurd  re- 
sult that  the  Pharaoh  is  entitled  both  "  sun "  and 
"  son  of  the  sun." 

They  call  themselves  "thy  son,  thy  slave,  the 
groom  of  thy  horse,  the  dust  of  thy  feet,  the  dust 
under  the  sandals  of  thy  feet,  the  ground  on  which 
thou  treadest,"  and  even  "  thy  dog."  They  declare 
that  they  prostrate  themselves  seven  times  before  the 
king,  or  seven  and  seven  times,  and  very  zealous 
vassals  add  "  on  the  back  and  on  the  breast."  These 
are  the  conventional  formulae  that  occur  in  letters 
from  every  part  of  the  land.  No  one  writer  employs 
them  all,  but  each  makes  a  judicious  selection  in  pro- 
portion to  his  sense  of  importance  or  his  desire  to 
ingratiate  himself  with  the  Pharaoh. 

1  Winckler,  Altorient.  Forschungen,  i.  2,  p.  149. 


100  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

The  sender  of  each  letter  assures  the  king  that  he 
is  devoted  to  the  royal  interests.  "  If  my  lord  the 
king  says  to  me,  '  Be  at  the  command  of  my  prefect,' 
the  slave  says  to  his  lord,  '  I  will.'  Upon  my  breast 
and  upon  my  back  I  bear  the  commandment  of  the 
king,  my  master.  .  .  .  Behold  a  slave  who  heark- 
ens to  his  master,  his  city  is  prosperous,  his  house- 
hold is  prosperous,  and  his  name  will  last  forever," 
so  writes  Abi-milki,  king  of  Tyre.  Still  more  servile 
are  the  words  of  Lapaya,  a  king  of  the  region  later 
known  as  Judsea :  "  If  the  king  should  ask  for  my 
wife,  I  would  not  refuse  her  ;  and  if  the  king  should 
send  to  me  (saying) :  '  thrust  a  dagger  of  bronze  into 
thy  heart,  and  die,'  I  would  surely  carry  out  the 
king's  command."  Curious  for  its  similarity  with 
Old  Testament  thought  is  the  declaration  of  Yabitiri, 
the  governor  of  Gaza  and  Joppa,  "Behold  I  am  a 
faithful  slave  of  my  lord,  the  king.  I  look  this  way 
and  I  look  that  way  and  there  is  no  brightness ;  but 
I  look  toward  my  lord,  the  king,  and  all  is  bright. 
A  brick  may  move  from  its  cornice,  but  I  will  not 
move  from  under  the  feet  of  my  lord,  the  king." 

The  contents  of  the  letters  that  remain  after  the 
adulation  and  the  protestations  of  fidelity  are  sub- 
tracted are  usually  meagre.  From  the  peaceful 
period  of  Amenhotep  III.  and  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  his  successor  we  find  for  the  most  part  re- 
ports that  the  sender  of  the  letter  is  fulfilling  his 
duty  as  the  governor  of  some  city,  that  he  has  for- 
warded his  annual  tribute,  that  he  has  provisioned 
the  royal  troops,  that  he  has  rendered  military  ser- 
vice  as   required,   that   he   has  guarded   the   roads 


THE    EGYPTIAN    Sll'KKMACY  101 

from  robbers  and  has  expedited  caravans  on  their 
way,  or  that  he  has  received  an  order  from  the 
king  which  he  is  prepared  at  once  to  obey.  A 
typical  letter  of  this  period  is  that  of  Yitia,  king 
of  Ashkelon  : ' 

"  To  my  lord,  the  king,  my  gods,  my  sun,  the  sun  of  heaven, 
Yitia,  thy  slave,  the  dust  of  thy  feet,  the  groom  of  thy  horse. 
At  the  feet  of  my  lord  the  king,  seven  and  seven  times  I  pros- 
trate myself  upon  my  back  and  upon  my  breast.  Surely  I  am 
guarding  the  place  of  the  king,  my  lord,  and  the  city  of  the 
king,  my  lord,  which  is  in  my  care.  Who  would  be  an  urgu  (?) 
and  not  hearken  to  the  command  of  the  king,  the  sun  in  tho 
heavens?  Surely  I  have  provided  all  the  .  .  .,  the  food, 
the  liquor,  the  cattle,  the  sheep,  the  honey,  and  tho  oil ; 
everything  that  the  king,  my  lord,  commanded,  surely  I  have 
provided  them.  And  surely  I  have  rendered  the  tribute  of 
the  sun,  as  my  lord,  the  king,  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  com- 
manded. " 

Occasionally  some  turbulent  spirit  refused  to  pa}' 
tribute  and  attempted  to  revolt.  Aziru,  son  of  Abd- 
Ashirta,  who  played  an  important  part  in  the  next 
reign,  started  a  rebellion  even  under  Amenhotep  III. 
This  was  promptly  reported  by  Akizzi,  king  of 
Qatna,2  and  was  put  down  without  difficulty  by 
Amenhotep,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  Kib-Addi  to 
his  successor  :  "  When  I  wrote  thy  father,  he  heark- 
ened unto  my  words,  and  sent  soldiers  that  the  sons 
of  Abd-Ashirta  might  not  take.  .  .  ."  Such  out- 
breaks were  rare,  apparently,  during  the  lifetime  of 
Amenhotep  III. 

An  interesting  glimpse  into  Canaanitish  politics  is 

1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  207.  2  Ibid.,  No.  138. 


102  SY&SLA    AND   PALESTINE 

affoided  bya  letter  of  Burnaburiash,  king  of  Babylon, 
to  Amenhotep  IV.,  the  son  of  Ainenkotep  III. : 

"  In  the  time  of  Kurigalzu,  my  father,  the  Canaanites  unit- 
edly wrote  to  him :  '  Against  the  border  of  the  land  we  will 
march  and  make  an  insurrection.  With  thee  will  we  make  an 
alliance.'  My  father  wrote  them  as  follows  :  'Seek  no  alliance 
with  me.  If  you  are  hostile  to  the  king  of  Egypt,  my  brother, 
and  make  an  alliance  with  one  another,  I  will  surely  come 
and  plunder  you,  for  he  is  in  alliance  with  me. '  My  father 
for  the  sake  of  your  father  would  not  listen  to  them."  ' 

From  this  it  appears  that  the  Canaanites  were  anx- 
ious to  revolt,  but  did  not  dare  to  attempt  it  without 
outside  aid. 

With  the  kings  of  Mitanni,  Assyria,  Karduniash 
(Babylonia),  and  of  the  Hittites  Amenhotep  main- 
tained peaceful  relations,  and  a  number  of  letters 
sent  by  these  kings  were  found  at  Tell-el-Amarna. 
From  these  letters  we  gain  a  wonderfully  clear  in- 
sight into  the  relations  of  the  leading  nations  of  the 
world  about  1400  B.C.  Far  from  being  isolated,  as 
was  formerly  supposed,  they  were  inconstant  commu- 
nication. Not  only  was  there  a  steady  interchange  of 
commercial  products,  but  also  of  art,  literature,  and 
religious  ideas.  In  the  centre  of  this  stream  of  trade 
and  of  thought  lay  Syria  and  Palestine,  exposed  to 
influences  from  every  side.  Under  these  circum- 
stances their  civilization  could  not  fail  to  assume  a 
cosmopolitan  form,  and  this  may  be  one  reason  why 
Palestine,  rather  than  Egypt  or  Babylonia,  became 
the  birthplace  of  a  world-religion. 

1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  7. 


CHAPTEK  VII 

THE  HITTITE  AND   THE   ARAMMAJS   MIGRATION 
1392-1376  b.c. 

With  the  death  of  Amenhotep  III.  (c.  1392)  the 
decline  of  Egyptian  rule  in  Syria  and  Palestine  began. 
One  of  its  main  causes  was  the  discord  that  prevailed 
in  consequence  of  the  religious  innovations  attempted 
by  Amenhotep  IV.  The  first  act  of  his  reign  was  to 
adopt  Aten,  the  solar  disk,  as  the  chief  god  of  the 
realm.  Against  Amen  of  Thebes  his  animosity  was 
specially  directed,  and  he  attempted  to  obliterate  his 
name  from  the  monuments.  His  OAvn  name  he  changed 
from  Amen-hotep  ("  Amen  is  contented  ")  to  Akh-en- 
Aten  ("  Spirit  of  the  solar  disk  ").  Such  a  revolution 
could  not  fail  to  encounter  strenuous  opposition,  par- 
ticularly at  Thebes.  So  uncomfortable  did  it  become 
for  the  young  king  in  this  city,  that  he  determined  to 
establish  a  new  capital  in  the  district  of  the  modern 
Tell-el-Ainama.  Here  he  built  a  city  and  founded 
in  its  midst  a  palace  and  a  temple  of  Aten. 

A  second  cause  of  the  decline  of  Eg}rptian  rule  in 
Syria  and  Palestine  was  the  invasion  of  these  regions 
by  new  tribes  from  the  North  and  from  the  East. 
These  peoples  were  warlike,  and  had  no  inclination 
to  submit  as  their  predecessors  had  done.     Although 

103 


101  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Egypt  made  a  brave  fight  to  retain  her  provinces, 
she  was  forced  to  relinquish  them  one  by  one,  until 
she  was  restricted  to  her  ancient  limits  before  the 
conquests  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty. 

In  the  time  of  Tahutimes  III.  the  people  known  in 
the  Egyptian  monuments  as  Khate,  and  in  the  Amarna 
letters  as  Khatti,  i.e.,  the  Hittites,1  were  settled  be- 
yond the  Taurus  mountains  in  Cappadocia  and  Cilicia. 
Not  until  the  reign  of  Amenhotep  III.  do  we  meet 
clear  evidence  of  their  advance  into  Syria.  Dush- 
ratta,  king  of  Mitanni,  was  menaced  by  them  at  the 
beginning  of  his  reign,2  and  repulsed  them  only  after 
hard  fighting.  Ramman-nirari,  king  of  Nukhashshi 
in  North  Syria,  was  also  attacked  by  them,3  and 
Akizzi  of  Qatna  complained  that  they  had  burned  a 
city  and  carried  off  his  gods.4  In  spite  of  all  opposi- 
tion, certain  Hittite  clans  succeeded  in  making  per- 
manent settlements  in  Northern  Syria.  Tarkhun- 
daraush,  king  of  Arzaua  (by  Jensen  identified  with  the 
district  of  Carchemish),  was  one  of  the  Amarna  cor- 
respondents. The  language  of  his  letter  is  asserted 
by  Sayce 5  and  Messerschmidt 6  to  be  identical  with 
that  of  tablets  recently  discovered  by  Chantre  7  at 
Boghaz  Keui  in  Cappadocia,  a  centre  of  Hittite 
power.  Other  Hittite  princes  also  are  mentioned  in 
the  Amarna  letters.     Contemporaneously  with  their 

1  For  literature  on  the  Hittites  see  the  bibliography  on  p.  xxviii. 

2  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  16,  lines  30  ff. 

3  Ibid. ,  No.  37. 

4  Hid.,  Nos.  138,  139. 

5  Proc.  Soc.  Bibl.  Archeology,  xix.  281  ff. ;  xx.,  pp.  250  ff. 

6  Orientalistische  Litteratur-Zeitung,  April,  1899,  col.  115. 
'  Recherches  archeologiques  dans  VAsie  occidentale. 


HITTITE   AND    ARAMAEAN    M  Kilt  AT  ION         105 

appearance  proper  names  of  a  new  type  begin  to  be 
found  in  Syria.  Shuardata  and  Uashdata,  tlio  names 
of  two  Egyptian  officials,  are  neither  Semitic  nor 
Mitannic,  but  are  apparently  Hittite. 

Early  in  the  reign  of  Amenhotep  IV.  the  great 
migration  of  the  Hittites  began.  Pouring  through 
the  passes  of  the  Taurus,  they  seized  one  after  another 
the  wealthy  cities  of  Syria,  and  began  that  career  of 
conquest  which  made  them  in  the  next  generation 
the  chief  military  power  of  Western  Asia.  From  all 
parts  of  the  provinces  letters  were  sent  to  the  Egyp- 
tian court  at  Tell-el-Amarna  stating  that  they  were 
advancing,  and  begging  the  help  of  the  Pharaoh. 
Aziru,  the  Amorite,  wrote  to  Dudu,  the  Egyptian 
resident :  "  The  king  of  Khatti  has  marched  into 
Nukhashshi,  and  the  cities  are  not  strong  enough  to 
escape  the  king  of  Khatti."  To  Khai  he  wrote  : 
"  The  king  of  Khatti  is  staying  in  Nukhashshi  and 
I  am  afraid  of  him.  I  am  watching  lest  he  enter 
MAR-TU (the  Amorite  land);  for  if  Tunip  falls,  the 
way  (will  be  open?)."  "If  my  lord  does  not  send 
troops  for  the  defence  of  the  land  (it  will  be  con- 
quered), for  now  he  is  staying  in  Nukhashshi.  There 
are  two  roads  to  Tunip,  and  I  fear  that  it  will  fall, 
and  that  Tunip  will  not  be  strong  enough  to  re- 
sist. .  .  ."  Three  kings  of  the  neighbourhood  of 
Damascus  sent  simultaneously  to  say  that  they  had 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  dislodge  the  enemy 
from  the  region  of  Amqi.  Rib-Addi  of  Gubla  de- 
clared :  "I  have  written  repeatedly,  but  no  answer 
has  been  given  me.  If  all  the  lands  of  my. lord,  the 
king,  are  seized,  my  lord  will  lament  (?)  (over  their 


106  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

loss).  But  now  behold  the  men  of  Khatti  are  plun- 
dering the  chieftains  of  Gubla."  Rabimur,  who 
succeeded  Bib-Addi  in  the  rule  of  Gubla  when  he 
was  obliged  to  remove  to  Beirut,  made  a  similar  re- 
port and  a  similar  appeal  for  aid.1  From  these  and 
from  other  letters  in  the  same  strain  it  is  evident  that 
during  the  reign  of  Ameuhotep  IV.  the  Khatti  steadily 
gained  ground  in  Northern  Syria. 

The  identity  of  these  Khatti  with  the  Hittites  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  Assyrian  and  Vanic 
monuments  cannot  be  inferred  from  mere  identity  of 
name.  Khatti  is  the  name  of  a  land  rather  than  of 
a  race,  and  this  land  may  have  been  occupied  by 
several  successive  races  in  the  interval  between 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  rule.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, from  other  considerations  that  all  the  Hittites 
known  to  history  belonged  to  one  stock.  Sapalulu, 
the  name  of  a  king  of  Khate  in  the  next  generation 
after  Amenhotep  IV.,  or  possibly  in  the  reign  of 
Ameuhotep  himself,  reappears  in  the  reign  of  Shal- 
maneser  II.,  king  of  Assyria  (833),  under  the  form 
of  Sapalulme,  the  name  of  the  king  of  Patin,  a  dis- 
trict of  the  old  Hittite  country.  The  ending  sera 
which  occurs  in  Maura-sera  and  Khate-sera,  two  of 
the  successors  of  Sapalulu,  and  in  Sura-sir  of  the 
Amarna  letters,  is  found  also  in  Pi-siri,  or  Pi-siris, 
king  of  the  Hittites  at  Carchemish  in  the  time  of 
Sargon  (717);  and  Khate-sera  is  the  equivalent  of 
Khattu-sar,  the  name  of  a  king  of  Gurgum,  a  dis- 
trict of  Comagene  in  the  time  of  Tiglath-pileser  I.  (c. 
1000).  Mautallu,  the  name  of  a  brother  of  Khatesera, 
1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  Nos.  45,  46,  47,  104,  119,  120. 


EITTITE    AND    ARAMAEAN    MIGRATION        107 

recurs  in  Mutallu,  the  name  of  a  king  of  Comageno 
in  the  time  of  Sargon.  The  name  of  the  goddess  (?) 
Tarkhu  appears  as  an  initial  element  in  the  names  of 
three  officers  of  Khatesera  and  in  the  name  of  Tar- 
khundaraush,  king  of  Arzaua,  in  the  time  of  Amenho- 
tep  III. ;  but  this  element  appears  also  in  the  names 
of  Tarkhunazi,  king  of  Meliteno,  and  of  Tarkhulara 
of  Gurgum,  in  the  time  of  Sargon.  In  view  of  these 
facts  the  racial  identity  of  the  earlier  with  the  later 
Hittites  can  hardly  be  doubted. 

Throughout  the  region  occupied  by  this  race  at  the 
height  of  its  power,  i.e.,  Asia  Minor  and  S}rria  as 
far  south  as  Hamath,  a  number  of  remarkable  hiero- 
glyphic inscriptions  have  been  found.  The  charac- 
ters are  pictures  of  men,  or  parts  of  the  body,  of 
birds,  animals,  weapons,  utensils,  etc.  They  are 
cut  in  relief  on  the  stone,  and  are  written  in  lines 
that  run  alternately  from  left  to  right  and  from 
right  to  left.1  Presumably  these  inscriptions  come 
from  the  Hittites,  since  their  area  is  co-extensive 
with  that  of  the  Hittite  supremacy,  and  since  there 
is  no  other  race  to  which  they  can  be  assigned. 
The  costumes  depicted,  as  well  as  the  reliefs  that  ac- 
company them,  have  many  points  of  similarity  with 
the  pictures  of  Hittites  on  the  Egyptian  monuments. 
A  small  silver  boss  has  also  been  discovered,  which 
in  its  centre  depicts  a  king  in  the  same  Hittite  royal 
dress  with  which  we  are  made  familiar  by  the  monu- 
ments, and  which  around  its  edge  has  an  inscription 
both  in  Assyrian  and  in  the  peculiar  characters  in 

1  See  Messerselmiidt,    "  Corpus  inscriptionum  Hettiticarum,"  in 
Mitteil.  d.  vorderas.  Gesellschaft,  1900,  5. 


108  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

question.  The  Assyrian  legend  reads,  "  Tar-qu(?)- 
dim(?)-me,  king  of  Ur(?)-me."  With  this  the  Cilician 
name  Tarkondemos  of  the  Koman  period  has  been 
compared  ;  and  in  any  case,  Tarqu  seems  to  repre- 
sent the  old  Hittite  deity  Tarkhu.  In  view  of  these 
facts  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the  Hamathite  inscrip- 
tions, as  they  have  been  called  from  the  place  where 
they  first  were  found,  are  the  work  of  the  Hittites  of 
the  Egyptian  and  of  the  Assyrian  monuments. 

Of  the  numerous  attempts  to  read  these  monu- 
ments the  most  recent  and  most  elaborate  is  that 
of  Professor  Jensen  of  Marburg,1  who  believes  that 
Hittite  is  an  ancient  form  of  Armenian.  His  con- 
clusions have  been  accepted  by  the  Armenian  scholar 
Brockelmann,  by  Keckendorf,  Hilprecht,  Schwally, 
and  Zimmern ;  but  they  are  still  disputed  by 
Sayce,  Hommel,  Winckler,  Messerschmidt,  and  other 
Orientalists. 

Until  the  question  is  settled,  in  what  language  the 
Hittite  inscriptions  are  written,  it  is  impossible  to  de- 
termine to  what  race  this  people  belonged.  Supposed 
Hittite  loan-words  in  Egyptian  furnish  as  yet  no  clue, 
and  Hittite  proper  names  are  also  an  insufficient  basis 
for  ethnological  conclusions.  Pu-u-khi-pa,  the  wife  of 
Khatesera,  bears  a  name  that  has  the  same  ending  as 
Gilu-khipa  and  Tadu-khipa,  names  of  princesses  of  Mi- 
tanni ;  andTare-Tishubu,  the  ambassador  of  Khatesera, 
has  a  name  compounded  with  that  of  the  Mitannian  god 
Tishub.  From  these  facts  it  has  been  inferred  that 
the  Hittites  were  near  kinsmen  of  the  people  of  Mi- 

1  Zeitschrift  d.  deatsch.  morgenland.  Gesellschaft,  xlviii.,  pp.  235- 
352,  429-485  ;  HUtiter  und  Armenier,  1898. 


BITTITE    AND    AEAM^EAN    M  H  I  B  ATI  ON         100 

tiinui;  but  the  conclusion  is  uncertain,  for  Pu-u-khi- 
pa  is  stated  to  have  been  a  princess  of  Qidawadana, 
and,  therefore,  may  not  have  been  a  Hittite ;  and  it 
is  quite  possible  that  the  messenger  employed  by 
Khatesera  was  a  Mitannian,  who  was  familiar  with 
the  methods  of  the  Egyptian  court. 

Those  who  reject  Jensen's  connection  of  Hittite 
with  Armenian  show  no  agreement  among  them- 
selves;  some  regarding  it  as  a  Turanian  language, 
others  as  akin  to  the  Lycian,  or  to  the  pre-Aryan 
Vanic.  Only  one  fact  can  be  regarded  as  established  : 
the  Hittites  were  not  Semites.  Neither  in  language 
nor  in  physical  characteristics  have  they  any  points 
of  similarity  with  the  earlier  inhabitants  of  Syria. 

In  the  Egyptian  monuments  they  are  depicted  as  a 
white  race.  They  had  no  beards ;  but  this  may  have 
been  due  to  shaving.  Their  hair  they  wore  in  two 
pointed  tails  falling  on  either  side  of  the  face.  As 
these  tails  were  not  braided,  they  must  have  been  kept 
in  shape  by  means  of  some  unguent.  This  manner  of 
dressing  the  hair  was  found  also  among  the  natives 
of  Kefto  (Crete  ?),  and  seems  to  have  been  characteris- 
tic of  the  peoples  of  Asia  Minor.  They  were  dressed 
in  tunics  of  Babylonian  type,  exposing  the  right 
shoulder.  Long  after  this  garment  had  gone  out  of 
fashion  among  the  Semites,  the  Hittites  continued 
to  use  it.  Beneath  this  they  wore  in  cold  weather  a 
long,  closely  fitting  shirt  with  sleeves.  As  a  protec- 
tion against  the  snows  of  their  native  mountains  they 
wore  high  boots  with  pointed  toes  turning  upward, 
such  as  are  still  used  by  the  natives  of  Cappadocia. 
Even  after  they  had  migrated  to  milder  climes  they 


HO  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

retained  these  boots  as  part  of  their  national  dress. 
The  king's  badge  of  office  was  a  high,  pointed  hat 
similar  to  those  worn  by  the  gods  in  the  Hittite 
reliefs.  The  troops  were  armed  with  round-topped 
helmets,  triangular  bows,  square  or  double-axe-shaped 
shields,  and  short  swords.  They  fought  in  chariots, 
which,  unlike  those  of  the  Syrians  and  Egyptians, 
carried  three  warriors.1 

Our  earliest  knowledge  of  the  religion  of  the  Hit- 
tites  is  derived  from  the  treaty  between  Eamessu 
II.  and  Khatesera.2  This  mentions,  besides  1,000 
gods  and  goddesses  of  the  Hittite  land,  three  great 
gods,  the  Sun,  the  Sutekh  of  the  land  of  the  Hittites, 
and  the  Ashtart  of  the  land  of  the  Hittites.  These 
deities  are  here  identified  with  their  Egyptian  equiva- 
lents. What  their  native  names  were  can  only  be 
conjectured.  In  later  times  the  divine  names  used 
most  frequently  in  compounding  proper  names  in  the 
reo-ions  once  occupied  by  the  Hittites  were  Tarkhu, 
Eo,  and  Sanda.  Tarkhu  is  perhaps  the  Ashtart  of 
the  land  of  the  Hittites,  the  later  Derketo,  or  Atarga- 
tis  (?) ;  Ro  is  perhaps  Sutekh,  and  Sanda,  who  later 
is  identified  with  Herakles,  is  perhaps  the  sun-god. 
Of  the  three  deities  the  goddess  enjoyed  the  highest 
esteem.  The  sky-god  was  her  husband,  and  the  sun- 
god  her  lover,  and  from  this  triad  all  life  was  believed 
to  have  sprung.3 

Contemporaneous  with  the  Hittite  advance  into 
Syria  another  migration  occurred  that  was  no  less  dis- 
astrous for  the  Egyptian  supremacy.      The  Amarna 

1  Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  324.  2  See  p.  130. 

3  See  Jensen,  Hittiter  und  Armenier,  pp.  149-177. 


EITTITE    AM)     \i;\M.lv\N     MT(} RATION  HI 

letters  written  to  Amenhotep  IV.  are  full  of  appeals 
for  help  against  a  nomadic  people  whose  name  is 
sometimes  spelled  phonetically  Kha-bi-ri,  at  othef 
times  is  represented  by  the  Babylonian  ideogram 
SA-GAS,  i.e.,  khabbatu,  "  robber."  ' 

Early  in  the  reign  of  Amenhotep  IV.  Itakkama,  a 
prince  of  North  Syria,  wrote  to  the  Pharaoh:  "l\am- 
yawaza  has  delivered  all  the  cities  of  my  lord,  the 
king,  to  the  Khabiri  in  the  land  of  Qadesh  and  in 
Ubi  ;  but  I  will  go,  and  if  thy  gods  and  thy  Shaniash 
go  before  me,  I  will  bring  back  the  cities  of  my  lord, 
the  king,  out  of  the  hands  of  tin;  Khabiri  .  .  . 
and  I  will  drive  out  the  Khabiri."  Namyawaza,  the 
man  who  is  here  complained  of,  wrote  about  the  same 
time  a  letter  in  which  he  protested  his  unswerving 
loyalty.  "  Verily  I  and  my  soldiers,  and  my  chariots, 
together  with  my  brethren,  and  my  Khabiri,  and  my 

1  The  same  people  whom  Abd-khiba  of  Jerusalem  in  letters 
179-185  (Winckler)  calls  Khabiri  are  in  letters  163,  170,  173,  192, 
193,  204,  205,  227,  230,  all  of  which  came  from  Palestine,  designated 
SA-GAS.  From  this  Winckler  is  probably  right  in  inferring  that 
in  these  letters  SA-GAS  is  always  to  be  read  Khabiri.  When  in 
letter  144  Namyawaza  of  Syria  speaks  of  "my  SA-GAS  and  my 
Suti,"  he  can  hardly  mean  "  my  robbers."  That  the  name  Khabiri 
is  not  to  be  taken  as  an  appellative  and  translated  "  allies  "  is  proba- 
ble from  the  way  in  which  it  is  combined  with  the  gentilic  name 
Suti.  Nowhere  is  any  synonym  of  "allies"  used  in  describing 
them.  Nowhere  are  Khabiri  spoken  of  as  Canaanites,  or  are  Ca- 
naanites  said  to  have  become  Khabiri,  as  must  have  been  the  case 
if  this  name  meant  "  allies."  Instead  of  this  Canaanites  are  said 
to  "  fall  away  to  the  Khabiri."  On  the  Khabiri  question  see  the 
literature  on  the  Amarna  letters  given  on  p.  xxxii.  and,  in  particular, 
Haupt,  Independent,  Jan.  12,1899;  Konig,  Expository  Times,  Feb. 
1900;  Sayce,  Ibid.,  May,  1900;  Reissner,  Journal  of  Bill.  Litera- 
ture, 1898,  p.  143;  Peiser,  Mitteil.  d.  vorderas.  Gesell.  1897,  4. 


H2  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Suti,  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  army,  whenever  my 
lord,  the  king,  commands."  The  prince  of  Khazi 
reported  also :  "  The  Khabiri  are  hostile  to  me,  and 
are  taking  possession  of  the  cities  of  my  lord,  the 
king,  my  god,  my  sun.  For  the  Khabiri  have  taken 
possession  of  Makhzi  .  .  ti,  the  city  of  my  lord,  the 
king,  and  have  plundered  it,  and  have  given  it  over 
to  fire."  Another  Syrian  prince,  whose  name  is 
illegible,  wrote :  "  Let  my  lord,  the  king,  know  that 
the  chieftains  are  destroyed  .  .  .  (and  the  whole) 
land  of  my  lord,  the  king,  is  falling  away  to  the 
Khabiri."  Bib-Addi  of  Gubla  was  in  special  straits, 
and  made  piteous  appeals  for  reinforcements.  In 
similar  strain  Zimrida,  king  of  Sidon,  complained: 
"  All  my  cities,  which  the  king  gave  into  my  hand, 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Khabiri." 

The  peril  was  equally  great  in  Palestine.  Abd- 
khiba,  king  of  Jerusalem,  wrote  to  the  Pharaoh : 
"  The  land  of  the  king  is  going  to  ruin.  If  thou 
listen  not  to  me,  all  the  chieftains  will  be  lost ;  and 
my  lord,  the  king,  will  have  no  more  chieftains.  Let 
my  lord,  the  king,  turn  his  face  toward  the  people ; 
and  let  my  lord,  the  king,  send  bowmen.  If  bowmen 
come  this  year,  the  lands  will  continue  to  belong  to 
my  lord,  the  king ;  but  if  no  bowmen  come  this  year, 
the  lands  of  my  lord,  the  king,  are  lost."  Other 
princes  of  Palestine  reported  to  the  same  effect.1 

The  Khabiri,  together  with  the  Akhlami  and  Suti, 
who  are  combined  with  them  in  the  Amarna  letters, 
were   the   forerunners   of    the   Aramaean   migration, 

1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  Nos.  144,  146,  142,  134,  283,  59, 
72,  73,  99,  154,  163,  147,  179,  170. 


HITTITK    AND    A  kAM.K.  \X    MIGRATION         JJ3 

which  in  the  succeeding  centuries  overflowed  Syria, 
Mesopotamia,  Babylonia,  and  Assyria.  Before  this 
time  no  trace  of  Aramaeans  is  found  in  the  monu- 
ments. The  first  sure  sign  of  them  in  Egypt  is  the 
name  Darmoseq  for  Dameseq,  "Damascus,"  in  a  list 
of  Ramessu  III.1  The  first  mention  of  them  in  the 
Assyrian  records  is  in  an  inscription  of  Shalmaneser 
I.  (c.  1330). 2  Muller  conjectures  with  considerable 
probability  that  the  mistake  of  Aram  for  Amor  in  a 
text  of  tho  time  of  Ramessu  II.  indicates  a  knowledge 
of  Aramaeans  in  Syria  as  early  as  1300  B.C.3  In  view 
of  the  nomadic  habits  of  these  tribes,  as  well  as  of 
the  fact  that  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  records 
represent  the  Syrian  desert  as  their  original  home, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  like  all  the  other  Semites, 
they  were  emigrants  from  Arabia. 

That  the  Khabiri  were  Hebrews  in  the  narrower 
sense,  i.e.,  Israelites,  is  highly  improbable.  The  exo- 
dus from  Egypt  cannot  have  taken  place  so  early  as 
the  Khabiri  invasion,  and  the  history  of  the  Israelit- 
ish  conquest  does  not  correspond  with  the  operations 
of  the  Khabiri  as  recorded  in  the  Amarna  letters.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  likely  that  they  were  Hebrews  in 
the  wider  sense,  i.e.,  that  they  belonged  to  the  group 
of  tribes  which  Israel  regarded  as  related  to  itself 
through  descent  from  a  common  ancestor  Eber. 

In  favor  of  this  view  is  the  etymological  equiva- 
lence of  Khabiri  with  'Ibri,  "  Hebrew."  In  the 
Amarna  letters  '  (y)  is  constantly  represented  by  the 

1  Miiller,  Asien  unci  Europa,  p.  234  f. 
J  Winckler,  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  p.  13G. 
3  Asien  unci  Europa,  pp.  222,  234. 


114:  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Babylonian  kh.  Khabiri,  therefore,  is  'Abiri,  which 
could  easily  be  syncopated  into  'Ibri.  Israel,  Moab, 
Aramoii,  and  Edom  are  not  mentioned  in  the  monu- 
ments before  the  XlVth  century.  It  can  hardly 
be  accidental  that  their  rise  to  prominence  falls  in 
the  age  immediately  following  the  appearance  of  the 
Khabiri.  Still  another  reason  for  identifying  the 
two  peoples  is  the  fact  that  both  belonged  to  the 
Aramaean  race.  In  the  case  of  the  Khabiri  this  is 
proved  by  their  association  with  the  Aramaean  Suti 
and  Akhlami ;  in  the  case  of  the  Hebrews,  by  a  unani- 
mous native  tradition.  All  the  documents  of  the 
Pentateuch  agree  that  Laban,  the  Aramaean,  was  the 
kinsman  of  Jacob,  i.e.,  of  Israel.1  Gen.  xxxi.  47  em- 
phasizes the  Aramaean  origin  of  Laban  by  putting  into 
his  mouth  the  Aramaic  words  jegar-sahadutha,  "  the 
heap  of  witness."  In  Deut.  xxvi.  5  the  Israelite  is 
bidden,  when  he  brings  his  offering  of  first  fruits,  to 
say :  "  A  wandering  Aramaean  was  my  father."  In 
the  genealogical  tables  of  P  Aram  and  Eber  (the  as- 
sumed ancestor  of  the  Hebrews)  are  both  descendants 
of  Shem.  In  the  genealogies  of  J  (Gen.  xxii.  21)  Aram 
is  a  descendant  of  Eber  through  Nahor. 

Through  the  invasion  of  Syria  and  Palestine  by  the 
Hittites  and  by  the  Khabiri  a  state  of  indescribable 
confusion  was  produced.  The  native  princes  were  at  a 
loss  whether  to  remain  faithful  to  Egypt,  to  side  with 
the  invaders,  or  to  oppose  both.  Some  decided  one 
way,  others  another  ;  and  soon  the  land  was  filled 
with  hostile  factions.  Commerce  was  interrupted, 
and  messengers  could  no  longer  pass  in  safety  be- 
1  E,  Gea.  xxxi.  20  ;  J,  xxix.  10  ;  P,  xxv.  20. 


HITTITE    AND    ARAM  JOAN    MICKATION         H5 

tween  the  courts  of  Egypt  and  those  of  Mitanui, 
Assyria,  and  Babylon.  Burnaburiash,  kiug  of 
Babylon,  wrote  to  complain  that  the  caravan  of  his 
messengers  had  twice  been  plundered  in  Palestine, 
and  to  demand  that  Amenhotep  IV.  should  make 
good  the  injury.  Dushratta's  begging  letters  ceased, 
doubtless  because  in  the  unsettled  state  of  the  coun- 
try he  was  no  longer  able  to  forward  them  to  Egypt. 

Abd-Ashirta,  the  Amorite,  and  his  son  Aziru,  who 
already  under  Amenhotep  III.  had  made  trouble 
and  had  had  to  be  suppressed,  saw  in  the  prevailing 
disorder  their  golden  opportunity.  Still  professing 
themselves  loyal  adherents  of  the  Egyptian  govern- 
ment, they  formed  secret  alliances  with  the  Hittites, 
the  Khabiri,  and  the  kings  of  Mitanni  and  Babylon 
to  attack  the  loyal  districts  and  to  divide  the  spoil. 
The  wealthy  cities  of  the  Syrian  and  of  the  Phoenician 
coast,  which  were  accessible  both  to  the  Amorites  and 
to  the  Hittites,  were  first  assailed. 

Our  chief  information  in  regard  to  the  progress  of 
this  war  is  derived  from  a  series  of  over  sixty  letters 
written  by  Bib-Addi,  prefect  of  Gubla  (Gabula),  a  city 
on  the  North  Syrian  coast,  to  Amenhotep  IV.  In 
spite  of  the  odds  against  him,  he  remained  loyal  to 
Egypt,  and  cherished  to  the  last  a  bitter  hatred  of  the 
wily  Abd-Ashirta  and  his  sons. 

"  Abd-Ashirta  is  a  dog,  and  he  is  trying  to  capture  all  the 
cities  of  the  king  ...  for  the  king  of  Mitanni  and  for 
the  king  of  Kash  (the  Babylonian  Kassites)."  "  What  dogs 
these  sons  of  Abd-Ashirta  are  !  They  act  according  to  the 
desire  of  their  heart,  and  cause  the  cities  of  the  king  to  go  up 
in  flames."     "  The  sons  of  Abd-Ashirta  are  dogs  of  the  king 


HQ  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

of  Kashshi  and  of  the  king  of  Mitanni,  and  they  are  taking 
the  land  in  possession  for  themselves."  "  At  the  time  when  thou 
didst  ascend  the  throne  of  the  house  of  thy  fathers,  .  .  . 
the  sons  of  Abd-Ashirta  began  to  take  possession  of  the  land 
of  the  king.  They  are  dogs  of  the  king  of  Mitanni,  of  the 
king  of  Kashshi,  and  of  the  king  of  the  Hittites ;  "  "  The  sons 
of  Abd-Ashirta  are  giving  the  land  to  the  Mighty  King  (the 
king  of  the  Hittites) !  "  "  Abd-Ashirta  has  taken  the  city  of 
Shigata  for  himself  and  has  said  to  the  people  of  Ammia, 
4  Kill  your  governor,  and  become  as  we  are,  then  you  will  have 
peace  ; '  and  they  have  done  according  to  his  words,  and  have 
become  like  the  Khabiri." 

Such  were  the  charges,  doubtless  well  founded,  that 
Rib-Addi  brought  against  Abd-Ashirta  and  his  sons. 

In  his  letters  we  can  trace  the  gradual  conquest  of 
the  cities  of  the  North  Syrian  coast  until  only  Tsumura 
and  Gubla  (Simyra  and  Gabula)  remained.  "  Buma- 
bula  (?),  the  son  of  Abd-Ashirta  has  entered  Ullaza 
by  force.  Ardata,  Yikhlia,  Ambi,  Shigata,  all  the 
cities  are  his.  Let  the  king,  my  lord,  send  help  to 
Simyra,  that  the  king  may  take  counsel  for  his  land." 
So  writes  Rib-Addi  from  Gubla.1  Seven  other  letters 
are  couched  in  similar  terms  and  beg  the  king  earnestly 
to  send  help  before  it  is  too  late. 

To  the  same  period,  when  Simyra  was  still  holding 
out,  but  was  in  danger  of  falling  at  any  moment,  be- 
longs a  letter  from  the  elders  of  the  city  of  Tunip : 

"  If  the  (king's)  soldiers  and  chariots  come  too  late,  Aziru 
will  treat  us  like  the  city  of  Ni.  If  we  have  to  mourn,  the 
king  of  Egypt  will  have  to  mourn  also  over  the  things  that 
Aziru  has  done,  for  he  will  stretch  out  his  hand  against  our 
lord.     And  when  Aziru  enters  Simyra,  Aziru  will  do  to  us 

1  Winckler,  Amarna  Letters,  No.  86. 


HITTITE   AND    ARAMAEAN    MIGRATION         H7 

what  is  in  his  heart  in  tho  territory  of  the  king,  onr  lord  ;  and 
on  account  of  these  things  our  lord  will  have  to  mourn.  And 
now  Tunip,  thy  city,  weeps,  and  her  tears  flow,  and  there  is 
no  help  for  her."  ' 

No  aid  came  to  Simyra  and  presently  the  letters 
record  that  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Abd- 
Ashirta. 

"  Simyra,  thy  stronghold,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Kha- 
biri,  and  wilt  thou  delay?  Send  soldiers  and  a  commander, 
and  drive  out  the  enemies  of  the  king  from  the  midst  of  tho 
land,  that  all  lands  may  be  brought  again  unto  the  king. 
Thou  art  a  great  lord,  but  do  not  neglect  this  message." 

Rib-Addi  was  soon  restricted  to  the  city  of  Gubla, 
where  he  continued  to  keep  up  a  brave  fight  against 
the  Amorites  and  their  allies  and  to  send  pathetic 
letters  to  the  Pharaoh  begging  for  succour.  A  typical 
letter  of  this  period  reads  as  follows  : 

"  To  my  lord,  the  sun  : — Rib-Addi,  thy  servant.  At  the 
feet  of  the  king,  the  sun,  seven  times  and  seven  times,  I  fall. 
May  Ba'alat  of  Gubla  give  power  to  my  lord,  the  king.  If  I 
have  written  in  this  way  to  my  lord,  the  king,  no  attention  has 
been  paid  to  my  words.  Verily,  three  times  these  years  have 
passed  over  me,  and  for  two  years  my  grain  has  grown.  (Now, 
however,  in  the  third  year)  there  is  no  grain  for  us  to  eat. 
Who  should  have  sown  it  for  my  subjects?  Their  sons  and 
daughters  and  the  ...  of  their  houses  are  no  more, 
having  been  given  to  Yarimuta  for  our  sustenance.  Further, 
let  my  lord,  the  king,  hear  the  words  of  his  faithful  servant, 
and  send  grain  in  ships  and  preserve  the  life  of  his  servant, 
and  his  city.  And  may  he  give  400  men  and  30  pairs  of  (?) 
horses."  2 

1  Winckler.  Amarna  Letters,  No.  41.  ■  Ibid.,  No.  G9. 


118  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

In  view  of  these  facts  the  tardy  Egyptian  govern- 
ment could  not  ignore  the  situation  longer,  and  sent 
the  messenger  Khani  to  call  Aziru  to  account.  Aziru, 
who  seems  to  have  bribed  somebody  to  keep  him  in- 
formed, disappeared  from  the  scene  before  the  sum- 
mons could  be  served  upon  him,  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  Tunip.  Here  he  remained  till  he  had 
news  of  Khani's  departure.  Then  he  returned,  and 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Pharaoh  expressing  great  regret 
that  an  attack  by  the  Hittites  had  compelled  him  to 
be  absent  when  the  royal  messenger  arrived  ;  and 
that,  in  spite  of  all  haste,  he  had  not  returned  in  time 
to  meet  him.  To  all  charges  made  against  him  he 
had  good  answers.  He  had  occupied  the  cities  be- 
cause it  was  necessary  to  defend  them  against  the 
Hittites.  Simyra  had  been  destroyed  to  prevent  its 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  king's  enemies,  but  he 
would  rebuild  it  shortly.  Kib-Addi  was  a  dangerous 
character  who  was  betraying  the  interests  of  Egypt, 
and  Aziru  begged  that  he  might  be  removed  and  a 
responsible  man  appointed  in  his  place.  In  regard 
to  the  summons  to  come  to  Egypt,  nothing  would 
please  him  better  than  to  look  upon  the  face  of  his 
lord,  the  king ;  but  the  danger  to  the  king's  lands 
from  the  Hittites  was  too  great  for  him  to  risk  leav- 
ing home  this  year. 

Amenhotep  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  Aziru  that  he 
knew  all  these  words  were  lies,  but  he  took  no  active 
measures  to  bring  him  to  account.  He  was  a  peace- 
loving  monarch,  who  liked  better  to  amuse  himself 
with  his  wives  and  children  and  his  religious  re- 
forms than  to  lead  expeditions  for  the  pacification 


HITT1TE    AND    ARAMAEAN    MIGRATION         HQ 

of  the  provinces.  Bib-Addi,  accordingly,  and  others 
like  him,  who  were  sincerely  loyal,  were  left  to  shift 
for  themselves.  Letters  of  complaint  soon  ceased  to 
come  from  them.  They  were  either  slain,  or  were 
compelled  to  go  over  to  the  Amorites  and  their  allies, 
the  Hittites  and  the  Khabiri.  Before  the  death  of 
Amenhotep  all  Syria  had  passed  out  of  Egyptian  con- 
trol. The  northern  tier  of  states  was  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Hittites,  while  in  the  southern  states,  as 
far  as  Tyre  and  Galilee,  Abd-Ashirta  and  his  sons 
had  established  an  Amorite  kingdom.  In  all  parts  of 
the  country  the  Khabiri  had  effected  permanent  set- 
tlernents,  and  dwelt  in  peace  as  confederates  of  the 
Amorites.  In  the  exploits  of  Aziru  Ave  see  the  begin- 
ning of  a  migration  that  reached  its  height  a  century 
later.  Eamessu  III.  found  the  Amorites  settled  still 
farther  south,  and  here  also  they  were  encountered 
by  Israel. 

In  Palestine  the  confusion  induced  by  the  new 
migrations  was  as  great  as  in  Syria.  The  Hittites, 
it  is  true,  had  not  yet  touched  this  region  ;  but  the 
Khabiri  were  present  in  proportionately  greater 
force.  As  in  the  North,  political  interests  were  di- 
vided, some  believing  that  it  was  best  to  hold  to  the 
Egyptian  government,  others  preferring  to  side  with 
the  Khabiri,  and  still  others  holding  aloof  from  both 
parties  and  striving  to  gain  profit  for  themselves  out 
of  the  general  disorder. 

A  certain  Lapaya  in  the  region  of  the  later  Judaea 
sought  to  emulate  the  example  of  Aziru  and  to  found, 
with  the  help  of  the  Khabiri,  an  independent  state. 
His  chief  opponent  was  Abd-khiba,  prefect  of  Jeru- 


120  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

salein,  who  played  much  the  same  part  in  the  South 
that  Rib-Addi  played  in  the  North.  Nine  letters 
from  him  were  found  in  the  archives  of  Tell-el- 
Amarna,  in  which  he  begs  the  Pharaoh  to  send  aid 
quickly,  or  Egyptian  rule  will  be  at  an  end.  The 
urgency  of  the  situation  and  the  sincerity  of  Abd- 
khiba's  appeal  are  strikingly  evinced  by  the  post- 
script that  he  adds  to  one  of  his  letters :  "  To  the 
scribe  of  my  lord,  the  king,  Abd-khiba  thy  servant  : 
read  these  words  plainly  before  my  lord,  the  king  : 
all  the  lands  of  my  lord,  the  king,  are  perishing." 

The  action  of  the  Egyptian  government  in  the  case 
of  Lapaya  was  prompter  and  more  effective  than  in 
the  case  of  Aziru.  He  was  expelled  from  his  terri- 
tory, and  was  obliged  to  live  the  life  of  a  freebooter. 
Subsequently,  he  was  captured  by  his  enemies  and 
sent  to  Egypt  to  answer  for  his  rebellion,  but  on  the 
way  he  escaped  and  resumed  his  former  career.  Not 
long  after  he  died,  or  was  murdered ;  but  his  death 
did  nothing  to  check  the  progress  of  the  rebellion  or 
the  victorious  advance  of  the  Khabiri.  Abd-khiba's 
appealing  letters  soon  ceased,  as  Rib-Addi's  had 
done.  Either  he  was  destroyed  by  his  enemies,  or 
concluded  that  no  help  could  come  from  Egypt,  and 
that  it  was  wiser  to  follow  the  example  of  his  neigh- 
bours and  go  over  to  the  Khabiri. 

It  is  clear  that  under  Amenhotep  IV.  Egyptian 
rule  in  Syria  and  Palestine  was  hastening  to  its  fall. 
The  only  thing  that  could  have  saved  it  was  the  de- 
spatching of  a  great  army  into  these  regions.  In- 
stead of  this  Amenhotep  sent  only  little  companies 
of  soldiers  to  the  aid  of  particular  friends,  trusting  to 


HITTITE  AND  aramj:a.\    migration       121 

tho  moral  impression  that  those  reinforcements  would 
make.  With  the  Canaanites,  who  had  felt  the  power 
of  Egyptian  vengeance,  this  method  was  efficacious ; 
bat  it  was  useless  with  tho  Hittites  or  the  Khabiri, 
who  had  neither  respect  nor  fear  for  Egypt.  They 
massacred  the  garrisons  without  compunction,  and 
took  possession  of  the  king's  cities.  When  vassals 
went  over  to  them,  instead  of  chastising  them  him- 
self, Amenhotep  intrusted  their  punishment  to  loyal 
neighbours.  Thus  Syria  was  plunged  into  civil  strife, 
and  blood-feuds  were  engendered  that  made  the  paci- 
fication of  the  land  an  impossibility.  The  Egyptian 
officials,  realizing  that  revolution  was  impending  at 
home,  and  that  the  provinces  would  soon  be  lost, 
made  the  best  of  their  position  to  plunder  the  na- 
tives and  to  misrepresent  at  court  everyone  who 
would  not  win  their  favour  through  bribes.  The  situ- 
ation was  hopeless.  Under  existing  conditions  it 
was  impossible  for  Egypt  to  retain  her  supremacy. 
A  new  monarch  must  come  to  the  throne,  and  the 
political  conditions  be  improved  at  home,  before 
even  an  attempt  could  be  made  to  regain  the  lost 
territory. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  RISE  OF  THE   ARAMiEAN   NATIONS 
1376-1160  b.c. 

About  1376  b.c.  Amenhotep  IV.  died.  As  he  left 
no  sons,  he  was  succeeded  by  Sakere,  the  husband 
of  his  daughter  Mertaten,  whom  during  his  lifetime 
he  had  associated  with  him  in  the  government.  The 
change  of  rulers  was  the  signal  for  the  outbreak  of 
hostility  against  the  newly  established  Aten-worship. 
Sakere,  who  remained  loyal  to  the  teaching  of  his 
father-in-law,  was  forced  from  the  throne  by  the 
Theban  priesthood,  and  Tutankhaten,  the  husband  of 
Ankhsenaten,  a  second  daughter  of  Amenhotep  IV., 
was  made  king.  He  conciliated  the  orthodox  party  by 
abjuring  Aten,  and  by  changing  his  own  name  to  Tut- 
ankhamen, and  his  wife's  name  to  Ankhsenamen.  He 
abandoned Tell-el-Amarna,  and  allowed  its  palaces  and 
temples  to  fall  into  ruin.  Externally  he  was  a  zealous 
worshipper  of  Amen,  whose  temples  he  reopened,  and 
whose  cult  he  supported.  Ay,  his  successor,  had 
been  a  high  official  at  the  court  of  Amenhotep  IV.  ; 
but  on  becoming  king,  he  also  professed  himself  a 
worshipper  of  Amen  and  did  his  best  to  undo  the 
work  of  reformation. 

None  of  these  kings  reigned  long,  and  none  was 
122 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAM/KAN    NATIONS  123 

able  to  regain  the  confidence  of  the  nation  or  of  the 
powerful  priesthood  of  Amen.  Egypt  was  torn  with 
religious  dissensions,  and  it  seemed  likely  that  it 
would  speedily  break  up  into  a  number  of  inde- 
pendent states.  Under  these  circumstances  interfer- 
ence in  the  politics  of  Western  Asia  was  an  impossi- 
bility. Syria  soon  fell  completely  into  the  hands 
of  the  Hittites,  who  were  now  united  in  a  confedera- 
tion under  the  leadership  of  a  king  called  Sapalulu. 
So  firmly  did  they  establish  themselves  that,  long 
after  their  empire  had  passed  away  and  the  Ara- 
maeans had  taken  their  place,  the  Assyrians  con- 
tinued to  call  Syria  "  the  land  of  the  Hittites." 

The  regions  east  of  the  Jordan  were  seized  by  the 
Aramaean  Bedawin  ;  and  as  these  gradually  amalga- 
mated with  the  older  population  and  adopted  its 
language  and  customs,  the  nations  of  Moab  and 
Amnion  came  into  being.  Inasmuch  as  the  older 
name  of  the  country  was  Lotan  (Egyptian  Ruten,  or 
Luten),  these  peoples  were  known  in  Hebrew  tradi- 
tion as  the  children  of  Lotan  or  Lot,  and  through 
unconscious  puns  on  their  names  the  story  arose  that 
they  were  born  of  incest.1  West  of  the  Jordan 
certain  tribes  of  the  Khabiri  obtained  a  foothold, 
but  the  fortresses  of  Canaan  were  so  strong  that 
they  could  not  effect  a  complete  conquest. 

The  bulk  of  the  Aramaeans  remained  nomads  in 
the  Syrian  desert  and  in  the  desert  south  of  Canaan. 
In  the  latter  region  the  tribes  were  known  by  the 
collective  name  of  Abraham.  In  union  with  the  older 
inhabitants  of  the  region,  Hagar,  Keturah,  and 
'Gen   xix.   30-38. 


124  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Sarah,  they  gave  rise  to  three  groups  of  peoples  : 
Ishmael,  clwelliDg  to  the  east ;  Midian,  in  the  centre, 
and  Isaac  to  the  west.  The  Isaac  group  was  rein- 
forced by  new  Aramaean  immigrants,  as  we  know 
from  the  story  of  the  marriage  of  Isaac  with  Re- 
bekah,  the  sister  of  Laban,  the  Aramaean.  Isaac 
was  subdivided  in  its  turn  into  Edom  and  Israel,  of 
which  the.  former  occupied  the  region  south  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  and  the  latter  the  region  between  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez  and  the  south  of  Canaan.  This 
was  the  land  of  Goshen,  in  which,  according  to  J, 
our  oldest  Pentateuchal  source,  the  forefathers  of 
Israel  were  permitted  to  dwell  by  the  king  of  Egypt. 

In  course  of  time  certain  Israelitish  clans,  probably 
the  Rachel  tribes,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  penetrated 
beyond  the  Isthmus ;  it  is  not  likely,  however,  that 
the  people  as  a  whole  migrated  to  Egypt.  The  Pen- 
tateuchal narrative  presupposes  that  Kadesh  was 
already  in  its  hands  at  the  time  of  the  exodus,  and 
the  fewness  of  the  sojourners  in  Egypt  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  two  midwives  sufficed  for  their  needs.1 

The  Pharaoh  Ay  died  without  leaving  an  heir,  and 
the  throne  was  seized  by  Horemheb,  commander  of 
the  army  (c.  1370).  He  abolished  the  cult  of  Aten, 
and  sought  to  reform  the  administration  of  Egypt. 
For  the  provinces  he  was  able  to  do  nothing,  as  home 
affairs  were  too  pressing.  With  Sapalulu,  king  of 
the  Hittites,  he  was  content  to  make  a  treaty  deter- 
mining the  boundary  between  the  two  empires.  Of 
her  former  possessions  in  Asia  only  Palestine  now 
remained  to  Egypt,  and  even  here  her  tenure  was 
1  Ex.  i.  15. 


RISE    OF    THE     A  KA  M.KA  N     NATIONS  125 

hardly  more  than  nominal.  As  in  the  time  of  Anion - 
hotep  IV.,  some  of  the  princes  saw  fit  to  pay  tribute, 
while  others  openly  refused  to  do  so.  The  same 
internal  strife  and  conflict  with  the  marauding  Bed- 
awin  that  are  depicted  in  the  Amarna  letters  doubt- 
less continued.  Nevertheless,  under  Horemheb 
Egypt  recovered  in  some  measure  from  her  weakness, 
and  began  to  summon  up  her  energy  for  an  attempt 
to  reconquer  Syria  and  Palestine. 

Ramessu  I.,  the  founder  of  the  XlXth  dynasty 
(c.  1353),  reigned  too  short  a  time  to  effect  a  change 
in  the  political  situation  ;  but  his  son  and  successor, 
Sety  I.,  undertook  the  task  of  restoring  the  empire  of 
the  XVIIIth  dynasty.  The  condition  of  Palestine  at 
the  time  of  his  accession  is  thus  described  in  one  of 
his  inscriptions :  "  The  vile  Shasu  (Bedawin)  had 
plotted  rebellion.  The  chieftains  of  their  tribes  had 
established  themselves  within  the  region  of  Kharu 
(Palestine).  They  were  smitten  with  blindness  and 
with  the  desire  for  violence.  They  slew  one  another." 
In  this  description  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize 
a  continuation  of  the  state  of  affairs  depicted  in  the 
Amarna  letters,  after  Palestine  had  been  invaded 
by  the  Khabiri,  Suti,  and  other  Aramaean  tribes. 

During  the  interval  that  had  elapsed  since  the 
death  of  Amenhotep  IV.  the  disorder  had  grown  con- 
tinually greater,  and  now  Sety  determined  to  under- 
take a  great  campaign  and  to  expel  the  Bedawin 
from  the    regions   that   they    had    seized.1     Falling 

1  See  Lushington,  "  The  Victories  of  Seti  I.,"  Trans.  Soc.  Bill. 
Archeology,  vi.,  p.  509;  and  Guieysse,  Recueil  de  Travaux,  xi., 
p.  52. 


126  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

suddenly  upon  Southern  Palestine,  he  defeated 
them  and  captured  their  strongholds.  Multitudes 
were  slain  or  were  taken  captive,  and  the  sur- 
vivors were  compelled  to  retire  into  the  desert. 
Order  was  once  more  restored,  and  the  danger  of 
an  Aramaean  occupation  of  the  country  was  temporar- 
ily averted.  Egyptian  rule  was  re-established,  as  un- 
der the  kings  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  and  tribute 
once  more  began  to  flow  into  the  Egyptian  coffers. 

In  an  inscription  of  Sety  we  meet  for  the  first  time 
'A-sa-ru  (Asher),1  a  Canaanite  or  Amorite  tribe  that 
subsequently  was  adopted  into  the  Hebrew  confed- 
eracy and  was  classified  as  a  son  of  Jacob  by  his  con- 
cubine Zilpah.  It  stood  thus  on  a  lower  level  than 
the  pure  Hebrew  tribes  that  were  regarded  as  sons  of 
the  wives. 

Having  effected  the  reconquest  of  Palestine,  Sety 
attempted  to  break  up  the  Amorite  confederacy  that 
had  been  formed  by  Aziru  and  his  successors  in  the 
valley  of  the  Orontes.  He  succeeded  in  capturing 
Yenoam  and  Qadesh,  and  he  subdued  the  region  of 
Lebanon,  compelling  the  inhabitants  to  fell  timber 
for  him  to  transport  to  Egypt.  This  brought  him 
into  conflict  with  the  Hittites,  who  at  this  time  were 
probably  under  the  rule  of  Maurasera,  the  successor 
of  Sapalulu.  Sety  records  a  victory  over  them ;  but 
if  it  really  occurred,  it  was  fruitless,  since  he  was  glad 
presently  to  make  a  treaty  recognizing  the  old  boun- 
daries between  the  two  empires. 

Ramessu  II. ,  the  son  and  successor  of  Sety  I.  (c. 
1324),  invaded  Palestine  in  the  second  year  of  his 
1  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  pp.  236  ff. 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAM/EAN    NATIONS  127 

reign,  and  advanced  as  far  as  the  Lykos  River  (Nahr 
el  Kelb),  between  Gebal  and  Beirut,  where  he  set  up 
an  inscription  that  is  still  extant  commemorating  his 
victories.  In  his  fourth  year  he  revisited  this  spot 
and  erected  a  second  inscription.  A  third  tablet  in 
the  same  place  bears  no  date.  At  Sa'diyeh,  a  village 
east  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  is  a  monument,  known  to 
the  natives  as  "the  Stone  of  Job,"  which  has  recently 
been  found  to  bear  his  cartouche.1  These  monuments 
are  evidence  that  he  retained  the  regions  conquered 
by  his  father,  and  that  he  pushed  the  Egyptian 
boundary  somewhat  farther  northward  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Amorites. 

In  the  early  part  of  Ramessu's  reign  Maurasera, 
king  of  the  Hittites,  died  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Mautallu.  Soon  after  he  was  murdered  by  his 
brother  Khatesera.  This  gave  Ramessu  an  excuse 
for  renewing  hostilities.  In  his  fifth  year  he  set  out 
with  an  immense  army.  Besides  the  regular  troops, 
he  had  bodies  of  mercenaries  gathered  from  various 
parts  of  the  Mediterranean  coast.  Conspicuous 
among  these  were  the  Shardana  (Sardinians?)  whom 
we  have  found  mentioned  already  in  the  Amarna 
letters.2 

The  king  of  the  Hittites  realized  that  this  was  to 
be  a  life  or  death  struggle,  and  summoned  all  his  al- 
lies to  his  aid.  Among  the  Syrians  mention  is  made 
of  the  people  of  Naharina,  Carchemish,  Arvad,  and 
Anaugasa.  From  Asia  Minor  came  the  people  of 
Qidawadana,  Muahant,  Luka  (Lycians),  Dardeny 
(Dardanians?),  Ye  wanna  (Ionians?),  Masa  (Mysians?), 
1  See  the  literature  on  p.  xxxr.  2  See  p.  82. 


128  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Pidasa,  Gargislia.  The  allies  entrenched  themselves 
near  Qadesh,  the  famous  stronghold  of  the  Amorites, 
where  so  many  previous  battles  had  been  fought  for 
the  mastery  of  Syria,  and  thither  Ramessu  advanced 
with  his  forces.  Our  two  sources  of  information  in 
regard  to  this  campaign  are  the  standard  inscription, 
which  Ramessu  had  engraved  on  a  number  of  his 
buildings,  and  a  poem  celebrating  his  exploits  in  the 
battle  of  Qadesh,  which  has  come  down  to  us  in  a 
copy  made  by  the  royal  scribe  Pentaur,  the  so-called 
Stillier  Papyrus  III}  Both  of  these  are  couched  in 
high-flown  language  and  are  full  of  absurd  exaggera- 
tion, still  they  allow  us  to  trace  with  reasonable  ex- 
actness the  main  events  of  the  war. 

With  four  divisions  of  the  army  Ramessu  traversed 
Palestine  and  came  without  opposition  as  far  as  the 
lake  of  the  land  of  the  Amorites,  i.e.,  perhaps,  the 
Waters  of  Merom.  Here  he  left  one  division  in 
camp,  and  pushed  forward  with  the  rest  as  far  as 
Shabatuna,  a  town  a  little  to  the  south  of  Qadesh. 
No  signs  of  the  enemy  were  discovered  as  yet,  and 
therefore  he  determined  to  encamp  two  more  divisions 
and  to  reconnoitre  with  the  fourth.  As  he  was  advanc- 
ing, certain  Bedawin  fell  in  with  him,  who  reported  that 
they  were  deserters  from  the  king  of  the  Hittites,  and 
that  he  was  stationed  at  Khalbu  (Aleppo),  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  to  the  north.  Ramessu  believed  them, 
and,  passing  Qadesh,  advanced  without  fear.  Pres- 
ently, however,  two  spies  were  captured,  who,  on  be- 
ing beaten  with  rods,  confessed  that  the  king  of  the 

'See  Guieysse,  Recueil  de  Travaux,  viii.,  p.  120;  Lushington, 
Records  of  the  Past,  ii. ,  p.  67. 


RISE    OF    THE    AKAM.EAN    NATIONS  129 

Hittites  was  lying  in  ambush  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood.  Ramessu  had  barely  time  to  form 
his  division  into  battle-array,  and  to  despatch  couri- 
ers to  hasten  those  in  the  rear,  before  Khatesera  was 
upon  him  with  all  his  forces.  The  danger  was  great, 
for  at  the  first  furious  onset  the  Egyptians  gave  way, 
and  Ramessu  was  left  almost  alone  in  the  midst  of 
the  enemy.  According  to  his  own  account  he  fought 
single-handed  against  25,000  chariots,  bearing  each 
three  warriors  ;  and  at  last  turned  the  tide  of  battle, 
and  forced  the  enemy  back  into  the  river.  Reinforce- 
ments came  up,  and  the  threatened  defeat  was  turned 
into  a  victory.  Many  of  the  Hittite  leaders  perished, 
among  them  Kherapasera,  "  the  writer  of  letters,"  i.e., 
the  official  scribe  of  the  Hittite  king.  The  fugitives 
took  refuge  in  Qadesh,  and  the  following  day  ambas- 
sadors came  out  to  sue  for  peace.  Ramessu  must 
have  lost  heavily  and  have  feared  to  undertake  a 
protracted  siege  of  the  city,  for  he  hastily  concluded 
a  treaty,  and  retired  to  Egypt  without  attempting  to 
continue  the  campaign.  Nothing  permanent  had 
been  accomplished,  but  this  did  not  prevent  him  from 
celebrating  his  wonderful  victory  in  inscriptions  so 
grandiloquent  that  they  deceived  later  generations, 
and  made  them  believe  that  Sesostris  (Ramessu  II.) 
was  the  greatest  conqueror  of  Egyptian  history. 

The  following  years  were  marked  by  continual 
conflict  with  the  Hittites.  In  the  eighth  year  they 
succeeded  in  inciting  the  towns  of  Galilee  to  revolt, 
and  Ramessu  was  obliged  to  reduce  Marama  (Merom), 
Biti-Aniti  (Beth-Anath),  Karaput,  Shalama,  and  other 
cities    of  Palestine  before   he   could   reach   his   old 


130  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

enemy.  Dapur  in  the  land  of  the  Amorites  offered  a 
specially  stubborn  resistance,  and  was  captured  only 
after  a  lengthy  siege.  In  spite  of  this  success,  there 
was  a  revolt  the  following  year  in  the  South  with 
Ashkelon  as  its  centre.  This  outbreak  was  quelled, 
however,  and  at  some  time  during  this  period  he  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  his  arms  against  the  Hittites  as 
far  as  Tunep  in  Northern  Syria,  a  place  which  we 
have  already  met  frequently  in  the  earlier  history. 
On  the  strength  of  this  achievement  he  ascribed  to 
himself  all  the  glory  of  Tahutimes  III.,  and  enumer- 
ated in  his  lists  of  conquered  places  Carchemish, 
Mitanni,  Shinar,  Assyria,  and  Manni  (east  of  Lake 
Van).  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  he  even 
received  presents  from  these  regions.  Far  from  sub- 
duing them,  he  did  not  even  effect  the  conquest  of 
Syria,  for  after  this  expedition  it  remained  in  the 
control  of  the  Hittites  just  as  it  had  been  before. 

In  his  twenty-first  year  both  the  Hittites  and  the 
Egyptians  grew  weary  of  the  protracted  struggle  and 
resolved  to  make  peace  with  one  another.  After  the 
preliminary  negotiations  had  been  concluded,  Tare- 
Tishubu,  the  Hittite  ambassador,  appeared  at  the 
Egyptian  capital  with  a  silver  tablet  on  which  was 
engraved  the  treaty  to  which  Khatesera  agreed. 
Presumably  a  similar  tablet  was  forwarded  by  the 
Pharaoh.  A  free  Egyptian  translation  of  this  im- 
portant document  has  fortunately  come  down  to  us 
on  one  of  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Karnak.1     It  be- 

1  Goodwin,  Records  of  the  Past,  iv.,  p.  27;  Brugsch,  Geschichte 
Aegyptens,  p.  518  ;  Wiedemann,  Aegyptische  Geschichte,  p.  438 ; 
Krall  in  Scala,  Die  Staatsvcrtrage  des  Alterthums,  i.,  p.  6. 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAM.EAN     NATIONS  131 

gan  with  an  account  of  the  relations  between  Egypt 
and  Khatesera's  predecessors.  Then  it  proceeded 
to  state  the  intention  of  the  king  of  the  Hittites  to 
maintain  peace  with  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  to  formu- 
late the  conditions  that  were  to  be  observed  by  both 
monarchs.  In  case  of  war  breaking  out  between 
either  of  the  contracting  parties  and  another  nation, 
they  agreed  to  come  in  person  to  the  aid  of  their 
ally,  or  to  send  troops  under  the  command  of  one  of 
their  generals.  They  promised  not  to  extend  their 
domains  at  one  another's  expense,  and  to  refuse 
all  overtures  from  rebellious  subjects.  Workmen 
were  forbidden  to  emigrate  from  one  country  to 
the  other,  and  escaped  criminals  were  to  be  returned. 
The  treaty  was  placed  under  the  protection  of  tbe 
gods  of  Egypt  and  the  gods  of  the  land  of  the  Hit- 
tites, and  was  sealed  with  the  great  seals  of  the  king 
and  of  the  queen  of  the  Hittites. 

Kamessu  was  pleased  to  regard  this  treaty  as  the 
consummation  of  a  victory,  but  it  is  clear  from  its 
terms  that  the  two  powers  stood  on  exactly  the  same 
footing,  and  that  the  status  quo  was  recognized  as 
binding  for  the  future.  As  a  result  of  twenty  years 
of  righting  he  had  gained  at  the  most  only  a  small 
strip  of  territory  in  Galilee  and  the  promise  of  the 
Hittites  not  to  invade  Palestine.  In  exchange  for 
this  he  was  compelled  henceforth  to  renounce  his 
claim  upon  Syria. 

In  his  thirty -fourth  year  he  married  the  daughter  of 
Khatesera,  and  in  consideration  of  her  rank  made  her 
queen,  although  she  was  not  of  the  stock  of  Amen. 
So  cordial  were  the  relations  between  the  two  na- 


132  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

tions  that  the  king  of  the  Hittites  made  a  visit  to 
Egypt,  where  he  was  received  with  great  rejoicing. 

During  the  remainder  of  Ramessu's  long  reign 
Syria  and  Palestine  lived  in  peace  and  had  a  chance 
to  recuperate  from  the  effects  of  a  century  of  warfare. 
The  king  himself  had  leisure  to  engage  in  extensive 
building  operations.  He  enlarged  the  temple  of 
Luqsor  and  completed  the  hypostyle  hall  of  the  tem- 
ple of  Karnak.  East  of  Thebes  he  erected  the  edifice 
known  as  the  Ramesseum,  and  in  Nubia  he  hewed  a 
number  of  temples  out  of  the  solid  rock. 

Another  important  undertaking  was  the  erection  of 
store-cities  near  the  eastern  frontier,  in  which  pro- 
visions might  be  gathered  for  the  troops  that  were  to 
be  despatched  to  Palestine.  One  of  these  cities  at 
Tell-el-Maskhuta  was  excavated  by  Naville  in  1883, 
and  in  it  were  found  the  names  both  of  Ramessu  II. 
and  of  the  place  Pi-Tum.  This  is  evidently  the 
Pithom  of  Ex.  i.  11,  which  the  children  of  Israel 
built  for  Pharaoh ;  and  together  with  Raamses,  the 
other  store-city  mentioned  in  the  same  passage,  it 
proves  that  the  Pharaoh  of  the  oppression  was  Ra- 
messu II.  For  his  building  operations  this  king 
needed  large  levies  of  workmen,  and  it  was  natural 
that  he  should  seek  to  press  into  service  the  nomadic 
clans  of  Israel  that  had  strayed  within  his  border. 
That  Israel  is  not  mentioned  in  any  of  his  inscrip- 
tions is  not  surprising,  since  it  formed  only  an  insig- 
nificant part  of  the  corvee. 

Ramessu  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Merenptah 
(c.  1258),  who  continued  the  policy  of  friendship 
with   the   Hittites   inaugurated   by  his  father.     He 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAMAEAN    NATIONS  133 

even  went  so  far  in  a  time  of  famine  as  to  send  grain 
to  Syria  for  the  relief  of  Lis  allies. 

In  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign  the  Libyans  of  the 
North  African  coast  and  "  the  peoples  of  the  coasts 
of  the  sea  "  combined  to  invade  Egypt.  Among  the 
Sea-peoples  are  mentioned  the  Aqaywasha  (Achaeans), 
Luka  (Lycians),  Tursha  (Tyreni,  Tuscans?),  Shakalsha 
(inhabitants  of  Sagalassos  in  Asia  Minor  ? ),  and  Shar- 
dana  (Sardinians  ?).  A  great  migration  of  the  races  of 
Italy,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor  was  in  progress,  in- 
duced probably  by  the  general  southward  movement 
of  European  tribes  that  brought  the  Dorians  into 
Greece.1 

To  the  reign  of  Merenptah  a  number  of  historians 
assign  the  exodus  of  the  children  of  Israel.  This 
theory  is  very  uncertain,  since  there  is  nothing 
in  the  Old  Testament  which  indicates  that  the  Pha- 
raoh of  the  exodus  was  the  immediate  successor  of 
the  Pharaoh  of  the  oppression.  The  personal  names 
of  these  Pharaohs  have  not  been  preserved,  and  un- 
fortunately there  are  no  chronological  data  by  means 
of  which  we  can  determine  with  certainty  the  time  of 
their  reigns. 

The  tradition  which  underlies  1  Chron.  vi.  4-9  ; 
Gen.  xxxvi.  31-39 ;  1  Kings  vi.  1  assumes  twelve  gen- 
erations in  the  line  of  primogeniture  from  Moses  to 
Solomon.  If,  following  the  analogy  of  the  kings  of 
Judah  and  of  the  first  three  dynasties  of  Babylon, 
we  allow  twenty  years  for  a  generation,  we  reach 
1200  B.C.  as  the  approximate  date  of  the  exodus. 

'Birch,  Records  of  the  Past,iv.,  p.  39;  Brugsch,  Geschichte 
Aegyptens,  p.  567. 


134  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

This  fulfils  the  condition  of  falling  after  the  reign  of 
Kamessu  II.  (1324-1258),  but  it  also  falls  after  the 
reign  of  Merenptah  (1258-1238). 

In  the  year  1896  Petrie  discovered  at  Thebes  an 
inscription  in  which  occurs  the  only  reference  to 
Israel  found  as  yet  in  the  Egyptian  monuments.  The 
latter  portion  of  this  record  reads  as  follows : 

"No  one  among  the  Nine  Bows  (i.e.,  the  foreign  nations) 
raises  his  head.  Tekhonu  (the  Libyans)  are  destroyed  ;  Khate 
(the  Hittites)  are  at  peace  ;  Pa-kan'ana  (Canaan)  is  captive  in 
every  evil  (?).  Ashkelon  is  carried  into  captivity ;  Gezer  is 
taken  ;  Yenoam  is  annihilated  ;  Israel  is  destroyed,  its  crops 
are  no  more ;  Kbaru  (Southern  Palestine)  has  become  like 
the  widows  of  Egypt.  All  the  lands  are  in  peace  together. 
Every  robber  has  been  conquered  by  King  Merenptah,  who 
like  the  sun,  gives  life  each  day. " ' 

Interesting  as  this  inscription  is,  it  throws  no  light 
upon  the  date  of  the  exodus.  Since  Israel  is  classi- 
fied among  the  Nine  Bows,  or  foreign  barbarians,  and 
is  mentioned  in  connection  with  places  in  Southern 
Palestine,  it  is  clear  that  Merenptah  did  not  find  it  in 
Egypt.  Some  have  inferred  from  this  fact  that  the 
exodus  had  already  taken  place;  and  others,  that 
Israel  was  already  in  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 
Neither  of  these  conclusions  is  warranted.  This  Israel 
was  probably  the  portion  of  the  race  which  did  not  go 
down  into  Egypt,  and  its  abode  was  not  Canaan,  but 
the  region  between  Egypt  and  Canaan,  where,  accord- 
ing to  Old  Testament  tradition,  the  forefathers  dwelt. 
Egyptian  rule  in  Palestine  did  not  cease  until  after 
the  eighth  year  of  Kamessu  III.  (c.  1200) ;  it  is  diffi- 

1  See  the  literature  given  on  p.  xxxiii. 


RISE    OF    Tin:    A  RAM-ISA  X     NATIONS  135 

cult  to  believe,  therefore,  that  during  the  reign  of 
Merenptah  Israel  could  have  effected  an  entrance 
into  the  promised  land.  If  the  defeat  here  recorded 
had  taken  place  later  than  the  organization  of  Israel 
into  a  nation,  some  memory  of  it  would  probably  have 
lingered  in  tradition.  The  lack  of  such  recollection 
points  rather  to  a  time  prior  to  the  union  of  the  so- 
journers in  Egypt  with  their  brethren  in  the  desert. 
In  view  of  these  facts  it  seems  to  me  unlikely  that 
the  exodus  is  to  be  placed  earlier  than  the  period  of 
anarchy  which  intervened  between  Merenptah  and 
Bamessu  III. 

In  a  document  of  the  eighth  year  of  Merenptah ] 
we  meet  the  first  mention  of  Edom.  Here  an  official 
reports  that  permission  has  been  given  certain  Edom- 
ites a  to  pass  within  the  frontier.  The  passage  reads 
as  follows : 

"  A  further  matter  for  the  gratification  of  the  heart  of  my 
lord  :  we  have  permitted  the  Bedawi  tribes  of  'Aduina  (Edom) 
to  pass  the  fortress  of  King  Merenptah  in  Thuku  (Succoth) 
to  the  pools  of  Pithom  (?)  of  King  Merenptah  which  are  in 
Thuku,  that  they  may  obtain  food  for  themselves  and  for  their 
cattle  in  the  field  of  the  Pharaoh,  who  is  the  gracious  sun  in 
every  land." 

This  passage  is  interesting,  not  merely  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  way  in  which  some  of  the  tribes  of 
Israel  took  the  road  into  Egypt,  but  also  as  show- 
ing that  Edom  stood  on  the  same  plane  of  civilization 

1  Papyrus  Anastasi,  vi.  4,  14  ;  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  135. 

3  Winckler,  Geschichte  Israels,  i.,  p.  189,  holds  that  those  are  not 

Edomites,  but  people  of  the  town   Aduma  mentioned  in  the  Amarna 

li'ttcrs. 


136  SYKIA    AND    PALESTINE 

as  the  contemporary  Israel.  Both  peoples  were 
nomadic,  and  both  were  ready  to  move  on  short  notice 
into  any  region  that  offered  better  pasture.  In  such 
settlers  we  see  a  part  of  the  "  mixed  multitude " 
which,  according  to  Hebrew  tradition,1  accompanied 
the  Israelites  in  their  exodus. 

The  death  of  Merenptah  was  followed  by  a  period 
of  anarchy.  Sety  II.,  Amenmessu,  Siptah,  and  Arisu, 
who  followed  one  another  in  close  succession,  cannot 
have  reigned  more  than  twenty  years  altogether.  The 
state  of  Egypt  during  this  period  is  described  in  the 
Harris  Papyrus,  which  dates  from  the  reign,  of  Ra- 
messu  III.2 

"  The  land  of  Egypt  had  fallen  into  confusion ;  everyone 
did  what  he  pleased.  For  many  years  they  had  no  ruler  who 
had  authority  over  them .  The  land  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
nobles,  and  the  princes  of  the  provinces  were  lords  of  the 
land  ;  in  pride  and  arrogance  (?)  they  slew  each  the  other.  The 
people  lived  in  exile,  the  land  belonged  to  aliens.  Arisu,  a 
native  of  Kharu  (Palestine),  made  himself  prince ;  the  land 
paid  him  tribute.  Everyone  allied  himself  with  his  neighbour 
to  plunder.  The  gods  fared  no  better  than  men ;  no  offerings 
were  brought  into  their  temples." 

Arisu  was  evidently  not  a  foreign  conqueror,  such 
as  the  Hyksos  had  been ;  but  was  a  royal  official  of 
Syrian  origin  who  succeeded  in  usurping  the  throne. 
It  was  natural  that  he  should  care  nothing  for  the 
rights  of  the  Egyptians,  and  that  he  should  renew  the 
attempt  made  by  Amenhotep  III.  to  break  the  ever- 
increasing  power  of  the  Theban  priesthood. 

1  Ex.  xii.  38. 

'  Eisenlohr-Birck,  Records  of  the  Past,  viii.,  p.  4G;  Erman, 
Egypt,  p.  49. 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAMAEAN     NATIONS  137 

In  this  period  of  political  and  religious  confusion 
we  find  the  most  probable  time  for  the  exodus  of  the 
Israelites.  The  successors  of  Merenptah  were  too 
feeble  to  oppose  successfully  the  revolt  of  any  subject 
people.  Traditions  preserved  by  Greek  historians 
seem  to  show  that  insurrections  of  foreign  slaves  were 
frequent  during  their  reigns. 

The  leader  in  the  escape  was  Moses.  The  correct- 
ness of  the  tradition  which  places  his  birth  in  Egypt 
is  shown  by  his  name.  Moshe  (Moses)  is  the  Egyp- 
tian word  mesu,  "  child,"  which  occurs  as  an  element  in 
the  names  of  several  Pharaohs. 

The  account  of  his  flight  and  of  his  long  residence 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sinai  is  unquestionably  his- 
torical. Only  thus  can  we  understand  why  this 
mountain  was  the  goal  of  the  Israelites  at  the  time  of 
their  escape.  Such  a  movement  as  the  exodus  would 
have  been  impossible,  if  some  understanding  had  not 
been  reached  previously  with  the  tribes  dwelling  in 
the  desert. 

Since  the  sixth  century  of  the  Christian  era  Sinai 
has  been  identified  with  Jebel  Musa  in  the  southern 
point  of  the  so-called  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  but  no  trace 
of  this  tradition  can  be  found  in  earlier  times.  All 
the  Old  Testament  indications  point  to  a  location 
much  nearer  both  to  Egypt  and  to  Canaan.  Ex.  v.  3 
suggests  that  it  was  only  three  days  journey  from 
Egypt;  and  such  passages  as  Jud.  v.  4  f.,  1  Kings 
xix.  8,  Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  Hab.  iii.  3  indicate  that  it  is 
to  be  sought  on  the  southern  border  of  Canaan  in  the 
region  later  occupied  by  Edom.1     Probably  it  was  in 

1  Sayce,  Early  History  of  the  Hebrews,  p.  188. 


138  SYRIA   AND    PALESTINE 

the  vicinity  of  Kaclesh  Barnea,  the  centre  of  the  Leah 
tribes,  Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  and  Judah,  before  the 
exodus,  and  the  centre  of  the  Hebrew  confederacy 
after  the  migration  of  the  Rachel  tribes.  Kadesh  is 
with  Rowlands 1  and  Trumbull 2  to  be  identified  with 
'Am  Qadis,  a  copious  spring,  situated  about  fifty 
miles  due  south  of  Beersheba,  in  the  Wady  Qadis,  a 
branch  of  the  Wady  esh-Sheraif.  The  oasis  which 
surrounds  this  spring  is  the  only  spot  between  Egypt 
and  Palestine  that  is  able  to  sustain  a  considerable 
population,  and  strategically  it  is  the  natural  start- 
ing-point for  an  attack  on  Canaan. 

In  early  days  Sinai,  as  its  name  indicates,  was  a 
seat  of  the  cult  of  the  Babylonian  god  Sin,  but  in  the 
time  of  Moses  it  was  the  sanctuary  of  Yahweh.3  In 
regard  to  the  relation  of  the  pre-Mosaic  Israel  to 
Yahweh  our  sources  disagree.  Two  of  the  Penta- 
teuchal  documents  assert  that  he  was  not  known  to 
the  forefathers,4  and  in  consistency  with  this  theory 
avoid  the  use  of  his  name  in  the  Patriarchal  history. 
A  third  document  represents  the  name  Yahweh  as  in 
use  from  the  beginning.5  This  discrepancy  can  prob- 
ably be  explained  by  the  assumption  that  the  Rachel 
tribes  did  not  come  into  contact  with  the  religion  of 
Yahweh  before  the  exodus,  while  the  Leah  tribes, 
which  had  dwelt  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sinai  since 
the  time  of  the  Aramaean  migration,  began  to  know 

1  In  the  appendix  to  Williams,  The  Holy  City,  1845. 

2  Kadesh  Barnea,  1884. 

3  The  name  Jehovah  (Yehowah)  is  formed  by  reading  the  vowels 
of  the  word  Adonay,  "  Lord,"  with  the  consonants  of  Yahweh. 

4P,  Ex.  vi.  2;  E,  Ex.  iii.  13  f. 
6  J,  Gen.  iv.  26. 


RISE    OF    TIIK    AKA.NLE.W     NATIONS  139 

the  god  of  this  mountain  at  a  much  earlier  date.  In 
any  case  it  is  clear  that  Yahweh  was  not  originally 
the  god  of  Israel,  but  only  became  such  in  conse- 
quence of  the  work  of  Moses  and  of  the  events  of  the 
exodus.  As  to  the  primitive  meaning  of  his  name 
and  the  origin  of  his  worship  we  are  wholly  in  the 
dark.  The  Pentateuchal  narrative  indicates  in  numer- 
ous ways  that  Sinai  was  his  home  long  before  the 
time  of  Moses,  and  a  number  of  proper  names  suggest 
the  possibility  that  he  was  a  deity  of  Canaan  prior  to 
the  Aramsean  migration. 

The  sanctuary  of  Mount  Sinai  was  in  possession  of 
the  Midianites,  a  people  closely  akin  to  Israel,  which 
they  regarded  as  descended  from  their  forefather 
Abraham  through  his  wife  Keturah.1  The  Priest 
of  Midian,  who  presumably  was  the  custodian  of 
the  shrine  of  Sinai,  received  Moses  hospitably, 
and  gave  him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  Thus 
from  the  moment  that  he  left  Egypt  he  was 
brought  into  intimate  relations  with  the  religion 
of  Yahweh. 

The  Midianites  were  merchants  who  exchanged  the 
products  of  Egypt  for  those  of  S}rria  and  of  Arabia.2 
In  the  religious  centre  of  the  tribe  and  in  the  family 
of  one  of  its  leading  men,  Moses  was  kept  informed 
of  the  condition  of  his  kinsmen  in  Egypt,  and  of  the 
disorder  that  prevailed  in  Palestine.  With  this 
knowledge  the  desire  wakened  within  him  to  bring 
out  the  tribes  that  were  in  Egypt,  to  form  a  confed- 
eracy with  the  clans  in  the  desert,  and  to  make  a 
fresh  attempt  to  conquer  the  land  flowing  with  milk 
1  Gen.  xxv.  2.  2  Gen.  xxxvii.  28,  3G ;  Num.  x.  31. 


140  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

and  honey,  in  which  the  Khabiri  forefathers  had  been 
for  a  while  sojourners. 

This  was  the  psychological  preparation  for  the  divine 
revelation  that  presently  came  to  him.  While  he  was 
tending  the  flock  of  his  father-in-law,  Yahweh  ap- 
peared to  him,  as  later  to  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and 
Ezekiel,  in  an  inaugural  vision,  and  gave  him  the 
commission  to  deliver  Israel,  and  to  lead  it  into  the 
land  of  Canaan.  In  the  strength  of  this  experience 
he  returned  to  Egypt,  where  he  succeeded  in  winning 
the  belief  of  the  people  that  he  was  a  prophet  sent 
by  the  god  of  Sinai.  He  demanded  of  the  Pharaoh 
permission  for  Israel  to  journey  into  the  desert  to 
sacrifice  to  Yahweh.  At  first  this  request  was  re- 
fused ;  but  in  consequence  of  a  series  of  catastrophes, 
the  Pharaoh  at  last  grew  alarmed  and  gave  Israel 
permission  to  depart. 

In  the  time  of  Moses  the  Sea  of  Sedge  or  Bitter 
Lake  (in  our  version  rendered  Red  Sea)  was  still 
connected  with  the  Eed  Sea.  There  was  thus  only 
a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  its  northern  end  and 
the  swamps  that  surrounded  the  eastern  mouth  of 
the  Nile.  This  passage  was  guarded  by  a  line  of 
Egyptian  fortifications,  and  fearing  to  pass  them,  the 
Israelites  turned  southward.  They  were  pursued  by 
the  chariotry  of  the  Pharaoh,  who  had  repented  of 
his  permission  for  them  to  leave  the  country.  Shut 
in  between  the  sea  and  the  enemy,  their  destruction 
seemed  inevitable,  but  at  the  critical  moment  deliver- 
ance came.  A  strong  east  wind  that  blew  all  night ' 
drove  back  the  shallow  water  of  the  Sea  of  Sedge  to 
1  Ex.  xiv.  21. 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAMAEAN    NATIONS  141 

such  an  extent  that  the  fugitives  were  able  to  ford 
the  channel  connecting  it  with  the  Red  Sea  and  thus 
to  make  their  escape.  In  this  event  Moses  and  the 
people  saw  indisputable  evidence  that  Yahweh  was 
in  truth  with  them,  and  that  he  was  more  powerful 
than  all  the  gods  of  Egypt. 

Full  of  holy  enthusiasm,  the  Israelites,  according 
to  the  earliest  tradition,  proceeded  at  once  to  the 
oasis  of  Kadesh  and  effected  a  union  with  the  tribes 
that  were  already  settled  in  this  region.  The  story 
of  the  wonders  that  Yahweh  had  wrought  awakened 
the  conviction  of  their  kinsmen,  and  together  they 
made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  neighbouring  shrine  at 
Sinai. 

Here  Moses  embraced  the  opportunity  to  unite 
the  scattered  and  frequently  hostile  tribes  into  a  na- 
tion on  the  basis  of  a  common  religion.  Israel's  re- 
lation to  Yahweh  was  unique.  As  we  have  just  seen, 
he  was  not  an  ancestral  god  who  stood  in  a  natural 
and  necessary  relation  to  his  people,  like  the  gods  of 
other  Semitic  tribes ;  but  he  was  the  god  of  Sinai 
and  of  Midian,  who  had  come  into  connection  with 
Israel  only  through  his  own  free,  moral  choice. 
Israel  belonged  to  him,  not  by  birth,  but  by  election. 
Its  existence  and  its  continuance  were  dependent 
upon  his  sovereign  good  pleasure,  and  he  might  cast 
it  off  as  easily  as  he  had  adopted  it.  Under  these 
circumstances  he  had  the  right  to  make  conditions 
upon  which  his  favour  should  depend  such  as  other 
gods  could  not  make.  This  fact  does  not  explain  the 
ethical  character  of  the  Mosaic  religion  ;  it  explains 
only   why   an   ethical   religion   was   promulgated  at 


142  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

this  particular  time.  The  peculiar  relatiou  of  Israel 
to  Yah  web  was  the  appropriate  historical  situation  for 
the  imparting  of  a  new  conception  of  the  holiness  of 
God ;  the  origin  of  that  conception,  however,  cannot 
be  found  in  any  natural  antecedents,  but  only  in  the 
mystery  of  divine  self-revelation.  Through  this  reve- 
lation the  religion  of  Israel  was  placed  from  the  first 
upon  an  ethical  basis.  This  was  the  fundamental  dif- 
ference between  it  and  the  religions  of  other  Semitic 
peoples,  and  it  was  the  secret  of  its  unique  later 
development. 

The  solemn  compact  at  Sinai  having  been  con- 
cluded, by  which  Yahweh  became  the  god  of  Israel 
and  Israel  became  a  nation,  Moses  wisely  decided 
not  to  attempt  at  once  the  invasion  of  Canaan.  Time 
was  needed  for  the  new  religion  to  exert  its  influence 
upon  the  wild  clans,  and  for  them  to  become  con- 
scious of  the  unity  involved  in  allegiance  to  one  God, 
before  they  could  enter  upon  a  career  of  conquest. 
Accordingly,  he  took  up  his  abode  at  Kadesh,  the  old 
centre  of  the  Leah  tribes,  and  devoted  his  life  to  the 
consolidation  of  the  results  that  he  had  already 
achieved.  Here  he  established  an  oracle  of  Yahweh 
which  was  consulted  in  all  disputes  between  tribes 
and  between  individuals,  and  through  it  he  gave 
decisions  that  carried  with  them  the  formidable  sanc- 
tion of  religion.  These  oracular  decisions  (toroth) 
soon  constituted  a  body  of  precedents  on  which  later 
jurisprudence  depended. 

The  task  of  Moses  during  the  years  at  Kadesh 
was  not  light.  The  increased  numbers  of  Israel  de- 
manded the  acquisition  of  new  pasture-grounds,  and 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAM  JEAN    NATIONS  143 

war  had  to  be  waged  with  the  Amalekites,  the  pre- 
Arainsean  inhabitants  of  the  region.  Jealousies  were 
inevitable  between  the  Leah  tribes  and  the  newly 
arrived  Rachel  tribes.  Each  claimed  the  right  of 
leadership,  and  Moses  had  difficulty  in  keeping  the 
peace.  He  himself  belonged  apparently  to  one  of 
the  Rachel  tribes,  and  in  Num.  xvi.  12, 14,  15b  (J)  we 
have  an  account  of  an  attack  made  upon  his  authority 
by  the  Reubenites.  It  was  hard  also  to  restrain  the 
impetuous  desire  of  the  people  to  fall  at  once  upon 
Canaan,  and  certain  clans  did  in  fact  attempt,  with 
disaster  to  themselves,  to  force  an  entrance  from  the 
south.  Over  all  these  obstacles  his  inspired  genius 
triumphed,  bringing  order  out  of  confusion,  and 
welding  the  tribes  gradually  into  one  people.  In 
the  quiet  years  of  waiting  at  Kadesh  we  see  the 
greatness  of  the  man  quite  as  much  as  in  the  stirring 
events  of  the  exodus. 

About  this  time  the  clans  of  Edom  must  also  have 
united.  The  list  of  Gen.  xxxvi.  31-39  places  the  first 
king  of  Edom  eight  generations  before  Saul,  the  first 
king  of  Israel ;  and  this  corresponds  with  the  genera- 
tion after  the  exodus.  Bela,  son  of  Beor,  the  first 
king  of  Edom,  according  to  the  list,  can  hardly  be 
another  than  Balaam,  son  of  Beor,  avIio  opposed  Israel 
in  the  land  east  of  the  Jordan.1  We  must  suppose, 
therefore,  that,  influenced  by  the  example  of  Israel, 
or  under  pressure  of  similar  historical  conditions,  the 
Edomites  formed  a  confederation  and  submitted  to 
the  rule  of  a  single  leader.  From  the  facts  that  the 
kings  of  this  list  were  not  the  sons  of  their  predeces- 
1  See  p.  152. 


144  SYEIA   AND    PALESTINE 

sors,  and  that  they  came  from  different  portions  of 
the  land,  it  seems  clear  that  at  first  the  monarchy 
was  elective.  The  title  "king"  applied  to  these 
rulers  forbids  the  assumption  that  they  were  merely 
temporary  military  leaders  like  the  "judges"  of 
Israel.  In  the  time  of  Moses  Moab  also  is  said  to 
have  had  a  king.1  The  Aramaeans  possessed,  it  is 
clear,  a  greater  genius  for  political  organization  than 
did  their  predecessors,  the  Canaanites,  and  to  this 
fact  they  owed  their  success  in  conquering  and  in 
retaining  new  territory. 

Meanwhile  a  restorer  of  order  had  arisen  in  Egypt. 
Setnekht,  the  founder  of  the  XXth  dynasty,  slew  the 
rebels  in  the  Delta,  reduced  the  princes  of  the  nomes 
to  submission,  re-established  the  endowments  of  the 
temples,  and  put  Egypt  once  more  in  a  place  of  in- 
fluence among  the  nations. 

After  a  brief  reign  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Kamessu  III.  (c.  1204),  whose  one  ambition  was  to 
rival  the  glory  of  his  great  namesake  Eamessu  II. 
In  his  fifth  year  the  Libyans  again  made  an  incur- 
sion, similar  to  the  one  that  they  had  made  in  the  time 
of  Merenptah;  but  Ramessu  defeated  them  with  a 
slaughter  of  over  10,000  men.  In  his  eighth  year  the 
Sea-peoples,  who  also  had  menaced  Egypt  in  the 
reign  of  Merenptah,  renewed  their  attack.  -Under 
ever-increasing  pressure  of  the  Moschi,  Phrygians, 
Dorians,  and  other  Aryan  tribes  advancing  from  the 
North  and  the  West,  the  ancient  peoples  of  Asia 
Minor  were  forced  to  seek  new  homes.  Partly  by 
sea  in  large  open  boats,  and  partly  by  land  in  rude 
1  Num.  xxii.  4. 


RISE    OP    THE    AUA.NLE.W     NATIONS  145 

carts  with  solid  wheels  drawn  by  four  oxen,  they 
poured  into  Syria  with  their  wives  and  their  chil- 
dren. Among  them  came  the  Shakalsha,  whom  we 
have  met  already  in  the  time  of  Merenptah,  and  also 
the  Danauna  (Danaoi  ?),  Zakkala,  Washasha,  and 
the  Purasate,  or  Pulasate. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  last  name  is  to  be 
identified  with  the  Philistines,  and  that  in  this 
people  we  see  the  forefathers  of  the  nation  with 
which  Israel  struggled  for  the  possession  of  Canaan. 
According  to  Gen.  x.  14  ;  Deut.  ii.  23  ;  Amos.  ix.  7;  Jer. 
xlvii.  4  the  Philistines  were  not  indigenous  in  Pal- 
estine, but  had  migrated  within  the  memory  of  Israel 
from  Caphtor  (according  to  many  authorities  Crete, 
according  to  others  the  southern  coast  of  Asia  Minor).1 

These  peoples  swept  everything  before  them.  The 
kingdom  of  the  Hittites  that  had  flourished  for  over 
four  generations  was  broken  up  into  a  number  of 
small  states  that  never  again  succeeded  in  forming  a 
confederation.  Carchemish,  Arvad,  and  Qadesh  on 
the  Orontes  fell  into  their  hands.  Then  they  pushed 
southward  with  the  design  of  conquering  Egypt. 

Eamessu  III.  gathered  all  the  forces  that  he  could 
muster  by  land  and  by  sea  and  went  to  meet  them. 
Somewhere  on  the  Phoenician  coast  a  decisive  en- 
gagement was  fought.       The  battle  was    stubborn, 

1  The  name  Caphtor  has  heen  found  in  a  late  Egyptian  text,  cf. 
Sayce,  Higher  Criticism,  p.  173.  The  identity  of  Caphtor  with 
Kefto  of  the  earlier  Egyptian  monuments  is  rendered  probable  by 
the  occurrence  of  the  Philistine  name  Achish  in  a  list  of  Kefto 
names,  cf.  Muller,  Mitteil.  d.  vorderas.  Gesellschaft,  v.  1.  The 
Philistine  royal  title,  soren,  is  probably  connected  etymologically 
with  the  Greek  word  turannos. 


146  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

but  the  Sea-people  were  at  last  forced  to  give  way 
before  the  superior  discipliue  of  the  Egyptian  mer- 
cenaries. On  land  their  army  was  defeated,  and  in 
the  final  conflict  about  the  wagons  the  men  were 
slain  and  the  women  and  children  were  taken  prison- 
ers. The  Egyptian  land-troops  were  then  able  to  go 
to  the  aid  of  the  navy,  and  by  their  arrows  shot  from 
the  shore  assisted  in  the  capture  of  the  enemy's  gal- 
leys. The  victory  was  complete,  and  the  remnant  of 
the  invaders  was  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  North- 
ern Syria,  whither  Kamessu  did  not  venture  to  follow 
them.  The  names  of  Carchemish,  Tunep,  Khalbu, 
Pabukh,  Arvad,  Khate,  Mitanni,  and  Asi  (Cyprus), 
which  he  enumerates  as  subject  peoples  in  his  tri- 
umphal lists  at  the  Memnonium  of  Medinet  Habu 
are  borrowed  from  the  inscriptions  of  his  predeces- 
sors, and  represent  no  actual  conquests.  If  he  had 
really  visited  these  regions,  he  would  have  had 
something  to  say  about  them  in  his  Anuals.  Under 
Ramessu  III.  the  boundary  of  the  Egyptian  posses- 
sions in  Asia  remained  just  where  it  had  been  at  the 
conclusion  of  peace  between  Eamessu  II.  and'Khate- 
sera. 

On  his  return,  apparently,  from  the  campaign 
against  the  Sea-people,  Eamessu  attacked  the  Beda- 
win  of  Sa'ira  (Seir),  and  carried  off  many  captives. 
The  inference  from  this  name  that  Edom  had  not  yet 
conquered  Mount  Seir  (of.  Deut.  ii.  12,  22) l  is  not 
warranted.  The  old  name  might  continue  to  be  used 
by  the  Egyptians  even  after  the  land  had  been  occu- 
pied by  a  new  race. 

1  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  135  f. 


RISK    OF    THE    AKAMJEAN    NATIONS  147 

This  is  the  last  recorded  campaign  of  an  Egyptian 
king  in  Palestine  until  the  time  of  Shishak,  the  con- 
temporary of  Rehoboam  (931).  Except  for  another 
war  with  the  Libyans,  Ilamessu  spent  the  rest  of  his 
life  in  inglorious  peace,  and  Egyptian  prestige  de- 
clined as  rapidly  as  in  the  days  of  Amenhotep  IV. 
The  remaining  kings  of  the  dynasty,  who  all  bore 
the  name  of  Ramessu,  were  little  more  than  puppets 
in  the  hands  of  the  priests  of  Amen  at  Thebes,  and 
under  Eamessu  XII.  Khrikhor,  the  high  priest, 
seized  the  throne.  With  Ramessu  III.  the  history 
of  Egyptian  rule  in  Asia  is  at  an  end.  From  this 
time  onward  the  Pharaohs  had  all  that  they  could 
do  to  defend  themselves,  without  thinking  of  foreign 
dominion.  The  way  was  now  open  for  Israel  and  for 
other  peoples  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  Syria  and 
Palestine,  as  the  Khabiri  had  attempted  it  two  cen- 
turies before  ;  and  the  result  was,  that  soon  after 
1200  B.C.  great  changes  were  made  in  the  political 
geography  of  Western  Asia. 

Under  pressure  of  the  hordes  of  Asia  Minor,  whose 
advance  Ilamessu  III.  had  checked  only  temporar- 
ily, the  Hittites  crowded  upon  the  Amorites,  whom 
during  the  XlXth  and  XXth  dynasties  we  have  met 
in  Southern  Syria  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Orontes, 
forcing  them  to  migrate  southward.  They  entered 
Canaan  and  established  themselves  in  the  northern 
mountain-country.  Here  they  were  found  by  Israel 
at  the  time  of  the  conquest.  For  their  geographical 
distribution  it  is  significant  that  only  the  North 
Israelitish  writings  E  and  Amos  speak  of  them  as 
aborigines  of  the  land.     The  Hivites,  whom  the  Is- 


148  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

raelites  found  in  possession  of  Gibeon,  Shechem,  and 
the  adjacent  regions,  are  in  Gen.  xxxiv.  2  ;  xlviii.  22 ; 
Josh.  ix. ;  2  Sain.xxiv.  7  identified  with  the  Amorites. 
The  Jebusites,  who  were  in  possession  of  Jerusalem, 
according  to  Josh.  x.  5,  were  also  Amorites.  East  of 
the  Jordan  they  drove  back  the  Hebraic  peoples 
Moab  and  Ammon,  which  had  been  established  there 
since  the  time  of  the  Khabiri  migration,  and  founded 
the  kingdoms  of  Sihon  and  of  Og.1  The  former  of 
these  extended  from  the  Arnon  to  the  Jabbok,  the 
latter  from  the  Jabbok  to  the  foot  of  Hermon. 

From  the  time  of  the  Amarna  letters  to  the  time  of 
Ramessu  III.  the  Hittites  stood  in  confederation  with 
the  Amorites  ;  it  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
they  should  have  accompanied  them  in  their  south- 
ward migration.  Numerous  references  in  the  Old 
Testament  make  it  difficult  to  doubt  that  certain 
clans,  at  least,  of  this  race  obtained  a  foothold  in 
Canaan  prior  to  the  Hebrew  conquest. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  Amorite  advance  was 
the  arrival  of  the  Philistines  upon  the  coast.  Before 
the  XXth  dynasty  Ave  find  no  trace  of  this  people  in 
Canaan.  Early  in  the  reign  of  Ramessu  III.  the 
Pulasate  (Philistines)  and  their  kinsmen  the  Zakkala 
are  seen  moving  out  of  Asia  Minor  with  the  migra- 
tion of  Sea-peoples.  Their  occupation  of  the  Sheph- 
elah,  accordingly,  cannot  be  placed  much,  if  any, 
before  1200.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Papyrus  Golen- 
ischeff?  which  dates  from  the  time  of  the  priest-king 

'Num.  xxi.  21-35;  Deut.  ii.  24-iii.  11. 

2  Muller,  Mitteilungen,  der  vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  v. 
(1900),  1.     Ennan,  Aegypt.  Zeitschrift,  1900,  i.,  p.  1. 


RISE    OF    THE    ARAMAEAN    NATIONS  149 

Khrikhor  (c.  1070),  discloses  a  flourishing  civilization 
of  the  Zakkala  at  Dor.  Tins  forbids  our  bringing 
down  the  date  of  their  immigration  much  later  than 
1200.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  later  inactive 
years  of  Ramessu  III.  seem  the  most  probable  time 
for  the  entrance  of  this  race  into  Canaan.  That  the 
Philistines  were  already  in  the  land  at  the  time  when 
the  Hebrews  entered  it  is  indicated  by  the  ancient 
song  in  Ex.  xv.  14. 

At  their  first  appearance  in  Palestine  they  played 
a  much  more  important  role  than  in  later  times.  The 
entire  sea-coast  from  Carmel  to  the  border  of  Egypt 
was  iu  their  possession.  In  the  north,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Dor,  the  tribe  of  the  Zakkala  was  settled  ; 
in  the  middle  were  the  Pulasate,  the  leading  clan, 
which  gave  its  name  to  the  whole  people  ;  and  in  the 
south  were  the  Cherethites,  whom  the  Old  Testament 
writers  frequently  couple  with  the  Philistines.  At 
the  time  when  the  Greeks  first  became  acquainted 
with  the  lands  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean they  were  the .  leading  race ;  and  from  their 
name  Palestine,  the  classical  designation  of  the  land, 
is  derived.  In  the  eleventh  century,  in  the  inter- 
val between  the  downfall  of  the  Hittite  empire  and 
the  advance  of  the  Arama3ans,  they  probably  had 
many  strongholds  in  Syria  as  well  as  in  Palestine. 

The  Philistines  were  not  Semites,  but  were  per- 
haps of  Aryan  origin.  In  their  first  impetuous  as- 
sault it  seemed  likely  that  Canaan  would  be  lost  to 
the  Semitic  world.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  counter- 
stream  of  the  Aramaeans  pressing  westward  from  the 
desert,  their  victory  would  have  been  complete.     As 


150  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

it  was,  they  were  gradually  restricted  to  the  cities  of 
the  coast,  and  were  finally  confined  within  the  Pen- 
tapolis  so  often  referred  to  in  later  Israelitish  history. 
Here  they  became  more  and  more  Semitized,  adopt- 
ing the  language,  the  religion,  and  the  customs  of 
their  neighbours,  until  finally  they  were  distinguished 
from  them  only  by  certain  peculiarities  of  dress  and 
of  government  and  by  the  fact  that  they  were  uncir- 
cumcised. 

Soon  after  the  Philistines  fell  upon  the  western 
coast  of  Canaan,  Israel  fell  upon  the  eastern  side. 
The  triumphs  of  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites,  and  of 
Og,  king  of  Bashan,  led  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites 
to  invoke  the  help  of  their  kinsmen.  The  Leah 
tribes,  which  were  restive  under  the  rule  of  Moses,  were 
the  first  to  heed  the  summons.  Leaving  the  Rachel 
tribes  with  the  ark,  they  passed  peaceably  through 
the  territories  of  Edom,  Moab,  and  Ammon  (Deut.  ii. 
2-8,  18  f.)  into  the  land  east  of  the  Jordan.  The 
Amorites  were  unprepared  for  this  attack,  and  were 
easily  conquered.  The  tribe  of  Reuben  settled  down 
in  their  place,  and  the  people  of  Gad,  who,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  inscription  of  Mesha  (line  10),  were  the 
aborigines,  soon  joined  the  Israelitish  confederacy. 
In  the  genealogies  Gad  is  regarded,  not  as  a  son  of 
one  of  the  wives  of  Israel,  i.e.,  not  as  a  full-blooded 
Hebrew  tribe,  but  as  a  son  of  the  concubine  Zilpah. 

The  remaining  Leah  tribes  determined  to  push 
forward  beyond  the  Jordan.  Judah,  Simeon,  and 
Levi  were  the  first  to  cross,  as  is  evident  not  merely 
from  the  place  that  they  occupy  in  the  genealogical 
scheme  as  the  first-born  of  Israel,  but  also  from  the 


RISE    OF    THE    A  UAU.KA  \     NATIONS  151 

narratives  of  Jud.  i.  1-3  and  Gen.  xxxiv.  On  enter- 
ing the  laud  they  came  into  conflict  with  a  coalition  of 
Canaanite  city-kings  under  the  leadership  of  Adoni- 
Zedek.1  A  decisive  battle  was  fought  at  Bozek,  the 
modern  Ibziq,  a  little  to  the  north  of  Shechem,  in 
which  the  Leah  tribes  came  off  victorious  and  made 
a  permanent  settlement.  The  Canaanitish  tribe  of 
Asher,  which  we  have  met  already  in  the  lists  of 
Sety  I.  and  of  Eamessu  II.2  joined  the  Hebrew  con- 
federation ;  and,  together  with  Gad,  was  included  in 
the  later  genealogical  lists  as  a  son  of  the  concubine 
Zilpah.  Dan  and  Naphtali  also,  the  children  of  the 
concubine  Bilhah,  arc  doubtless  Canaanite  tribes  that 
were  adopted  into  the  nation  of  Israel. 

All  went  well  until  Levi  and  Simeon  broke  their 
treaty,  and  treacherously  slew  the  people  of  Shechem 
(Gen.  xxxiv.),  whereupon  the  Amorites  rose  en  masse 
and  almost  exterminated  them.  Levi  ceased  to  exist 
as  a  tribe.  Its  survivors  were  scattered  among  the 
remaining  tribes  ;  where,  in  lack  of  other  occupation, 
they  took  on  oracular  priestly  functions,  and  thus 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  future  sacred  guild  of  the 
Levites.  Simeon  also  was  reduced  to  a  tiny  clan 
that  was  driven  to  the  extreme  south  of  the  land, 
where  it  dragged  out  a  feeble  existence  as  an  append- 
age of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Judah  was  expelled  from 
the  region  of  Shechem  into  the  southern  hill-country, 
and  for  generations  lost  its  connection  with  the  re- 
maining tribes.  Only  after  absorbing  large  Canaan- 
itish elements,  and  being  reinforced  with  Kenezites 
and  Kenites,  did  it  again  become  politically  important. 

1  Jud.  i.  5  f.,  by  textual  corruption  Adoni-Bezek.  *  P.  126. 


152  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

In  the  Song  of  Deborah  (Jud.  v.)  Simeon  and  Judah 
are  not  even  mentioned. 

The  position  of  the  Leah  tribes  Issachar  and  Zeb- 
ulon  in  the  genealogies  indicates  that  their  entrance 
into  Canaan  was  later  than  the  settlement  of  Simeon, 
Levi  and  Judah,  and  later  than  the  incorporation  of 
the  concubine  clans.  In  regard  to  the  details  of  their 
migration,  however,  we  have  no  exact  information. 

On  the  whole,  the  attack  of  the  Leah  tribes  upon 
Canaan  was  a  failure ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
greater  success  of  the  Rachel  tribes  that  followed  in 
their  wake,  Israel  would  never  have  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  promised  land.  Forsaking  Kadesh,  Moses 
advanced  with  the  tribes  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
into  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan.  The  ark,  the 
visible  symbol  of  Yahweh's  presence,  accompanied 
them.  On  this  occasion  the  Edomites  and  Moabites 
refused  the  permission  to  pass  through  their  terri- 
tories that  they  had  previously  accorded.1  Thus  may 
be  explained  the  contradictory  statements  of  Hebrew 
tradition  on  the  conduct  of  these  nations  at  the  time 
of  the  exodus.2 

The  unwillingness  of  the  Leah  tribes  to  relinquish 
Gilead  and  Bashan  to  their  former  owners  had 
aroused  strong  animosity  against  Israel.  Balak, 
king  of  Moab,  and  the  Midianites,  his  neighbours, 
sought  to  hinder  the  advance  of  Moses,  and  called  in 
the  help  of  a  certain  Balaam  son  of  Beor.  In  regard 
to  the  home  of  this  personage  Hebrew  tradition  is 
singularly  divergent.  According  to  J  (Num.  xxii.  25) 
he  came  from   the   land  of   the  children   of   Ammo 

1  Num.  xx.  14-21  ;  xxi.  14  ;  Jud.  xi.  17  f.  2  See  p.  150. 


RISK    OF    THE    AKAM.EAX     NATIONS  153 

(LXX.  Amnion) ;  according  to  P  (Num.  xxxi.  8,  16  ; 
Josh.  xiii.  22)  he  was  connected  with  the  Midianites  ; 
according  to  E  (Num.  xxii.  5 ;  xxiii.  7)  he  came  from 
Pethor  in  Aram  (Syria).  J  and  P,  it  will  be  observed, 
place  his  home  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Moab. 
In  all  probability,  therefore,  Aram  in  E  (followed  by 
Deut.  xxiii.  4)  is  a  case  of  the  common  textual  con- 
fusion between  Aram  and  Edom  (nis<  and  D1S). 
With  this  agrees  the  list  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  32,  which  makes 
Bela  son  of  Beor,  a  contemporary  of  the  generation 
after  the  exodus,  the  first  king  of  Edom.  Contrary 
to  the  usual  opinion,  Pethor  is  probably  not  to  be 
identified  with  Pitru,  a  city  west  of  the  Euphrates 
mentioned  by  Shalmaneser  II. ;  and  both  it  and 
Dinhabah,  the  residence  of  Bela  (Gen.  xxxvi.  32), 
are  plausibly  regarded  as  textual  corruptions  of  Re- 
hoboth,  which  is  named  as  the  residence  of  Shard, 
the  sixth  king  of  Edom  (Gen.  xxxvi.  37).  This  Reho- 
both  is  said  to  be  "  by  the  river  "  (cf.  Num.  xxii.  5), 
that  is,  not  the  Euphrates,  but  the  River  of  Mutsrim 
(corrupted  into  River  of  Mitsraim,  or  "  River  of 
Egypt "),  in  later  times  regarded  as  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 

These  machinations  of  the  Moabites  and  Edomites 
were  met  successfully  by  the  Rachel  tribes,  and  all 
was  ready  for  an  advance  into  the  land  west  of  the 
Jordan  when  Moses  died.  Joshua,  the  chieftain  of 
Ephraim,  became  his  successor  (c.  1200  B.C.)  and  the 
plan  of  campaign  was  carried  on  without  interrup- 
tion. Crossing  the  Jordan  at  Gilgal,  Joshua  cap- 
tured Jericho,  Ai,  and  Bethel  in  rapid  succession  ; 
whereupon   the   small  towns  in  the  neighbourhood 


154:  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

surrendered  and  became  tributary.  Alarmed  at  this 
success,  the  kings  of  Jerusalem,  Hebron,  Jarmuth, 
Lachish,  and  Eglon  formed  an  alliance,  similar  to  that 
which  had  been  formed  at  an  earlier  date  against  the 
Leah  tribes.  In  the  battle  which  ensued  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh  won  a  great  victory,  which  ensured  to  them 
the  possession  of  the  mountain-region  of  Central  Pal- 
estine. A  coalition  in  the  North  under  the  leadership 
of  Jabin,  king  of  Hazor,  was  also  defeated.  So  im- 
portant were  these  victories,  and  so  much  did  they 
redound  to  the  advantage  of  the  clans  which  had  en- 
tered Canaan  earlier,  that  in  late  Hebrew  tradition 
Joshua  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  leader  of  a  united 
Israel  and  the  conqueror  of  the  entire  territory  sub- 
sequently occupied  by  the  nation. 

The  region  conquered  by  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
was  the  one  called  Joseph-el  in  the  Annals  of  Ta- 
hutimes  III.1  As  these  tribes  amalgamated  with  the 
Canaanites,  they  soon  became  undistinguishable  from 
them.  Hence,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  were  classi- 
fied in  the  genealogies  as  sons  of  Joseph.2  Joseph, 
however,  was  regarded  as  the  son  of  Jacob,  the  ances- 
tor of  a  group  of  Canaanite  tribes  ;  hence,  as  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh  were  sons  of  Israel,  Israel  and  Jacob 
had  to  be  identified.  Accordingly,  we  are  told  that 
at  Bethel  Jacob's  name  was  changed  to  Israel  ; 
which,  translated  into  literal  language,  means  simply, 
that  at  the  great  sanctuary  of  Bethel,  which  was  rev- 
erenced equally  by  Canaanites  and  Israelites,  the  fu- 
sion of  the  two  nations  went  on,  until  at  last  the  Ca- 
naanitish  Jacob  disappeared  and  the  Araina3an  Israel 
1  See  pp.  42,  81.  s  See  p.  43. 


RISK    OF    THE    AK.Wl.K.W     NATIONS  155 

took  its  place.  Through  this  blending  of  Israel  with 
its  predecessors  the  facts  are  explained  that  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Old  Testament  is  not  Aramaic  hut  a 
dialect  of  Canaanite,  and  that  the  institutions,  cus- 
toms, and  traditions  of  Israel  are  so  largely  identical 
with  those  of  the  curlier  inhabitants  of  the  land. 

While  Palestine  was  thus  coming  into  the  posses- 
sion of  new  races,  a  similar  change  was  going  on  in 
Syria.  After  the  break-up  of  the  Hittite  empire,  its 
place  was  speedily  filled  b}r  a  number  of  Aramaean 
clans  similar  to  Moab,  Ammon,  Edom,  and  Israel. 
Unfortunately  we  have  no  record  of  the  way  in  which 
this  change  was  effected.  About  1000  B.C.  a  number 
of  flourishing  Syrian  kingdoms  appear  in  the  Hebrew 
and  in  tin;  Assyrian  records.  These  must  have  re- 
quired some  time  to  rise  to  power,  so  that  we  shall 
not  be  far  astray  if  we  place  their  beginnings  in  the 
same  period  with  the  beginnings  of  the  Aranisean 
nations  in  Palestine. 

North  of  the  territory  of  Gad  and  of  Ammon  lay 
the  kingdoms  of  Geshur,  Maacah,  Rehob,  and  Zo- 
bah.  Still  farther  north  were  Damascus,  Hadrach, 
Hamath,  and  Patin,  and  beyond  the  Euphrates,  in 
the  region  once  occupied  by  the  kingdom  of  Mitanni, 
was  Beth  Eden,  or  Bit  Adini,  as  it  was  called  by  the 
Assyrians.  The  coast  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Canaanitish  Phoenicians,  its  ancient  possessors,  and 
certain  districts  of  the  North  were  still  held  by  a 
remnant  of  the  Hittites.  A  complete  change  in  the 
political  geography  and  in  the  nomenclature  of 
Syria  had  taken  place  since  the  period  of  the  Annals 
of  Tahutimes  III.  and  of  the  Amarna  letters. 


156  SYRIA   AND    PALESTINE 

Throughout  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  the  Aramaean 
migration  was  felt  with  much  greater  force  than  in 
Palestine.  The  result  was  that,  while  in  Palestine 
the  older  population  imposed  its  speech  upon  its 
conquerors,  in  Syria  the  speech  of  the  invaders 
triumphed.  Babylonian,  which  for  more  than  2,000 
years  had  held  its  own  throughout  Western  Asia  as 
the  language  of  diplomacy  and  of  trade,  was  now 
displaced  by  Aramaic.  Even  within  Babylonia  and 
Assyria  the  latter  became  the  mother-tongue  of  an 
ever-increasing  proportion  of  the  population. 


--    ^»        QBeth-Sban  j 
/  Tanaach    Bezek  I  Jabtsb 
ISamariao     0Theb>: 
AphJk  o  o 

\  Ophraho   Shechi 
oppa/o       Shiloh°         (  Jaha 


Mabanaiiu 


Bvzrah 


Mizpab 
o  Ratnoth-Gilead 

AMMON 


/      <&Kamah     "' 
Asbdud0    ty  JJer 

Ashielon^^JUDAH/ 

ish         \       MOAB  ^ 

I /U    o  Rabbali  Vr 

T3heba  L^J        o  Harescth  /-O' 

EDOM  ^V 


AMALEK 


MUTSRIM 


SYRIA  A>D  PALESTINE 

IN  THE 
OLD  TESTAMENT 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE   PERIOD   OF   THE   HEBREW  JUDGES 
1160-1020  b.c. 

From  1200  until  876  B.C.  Syria  and  Palestine  were 
left  in  peace  by  the  great  powers.  Occasional  expe- 
ditions for  plunder  were  made  by  a  few  exceptionally 
energetic  monarchs,  but  there  was  no  attempt  to  es- 
tablish a  permanent  supremacy.  The  successors  of 
llaruessu  III.  in  the  XXth  dynasty  were  powerless  to 
resist  the  aggressions  of  the  Theban  hierarchy,  and 
during  the  XXIst  dynasty  the  throne  was  usurped  by 
the  high  priests  of  Amen.  The  kings  of  the  XXIId 
dynasty  were  usurpers  of  Libyan  origin,  and  those  of 
the  XXIIId-XXVth  dynasties  were  Ethiopian  con- 
querors. About  1180  B.C.  Babylonia  was  wasted  by 
a  second  Elamite  invasion  under  Kidinkhutrudash 
and  Kudurnankhundi  II.  ;  it  suffered  also  from  re- 
peated incursions  of  Aramaean  hordes.  The  powerful 
Kassite  dynasty,  that  had  reigned  for  600  years,  fell 
about  1100,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  number  of  dynas- 
ties of  relatively  short  duration  and  of  little  histori- 
cal importance.  During  this  period  Assyria  slowly 
rose  into  prominence,  and  prepared  to  become  the 
mistress  of  Western  Asia  in  the  first  half  of  the  next 
millennium  ;  but  she  had  first  to  wage  a  long  struggle 

157 


158  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

for  supremacy  with  Babylon,  and  not  until  this  was 
ended  could  she  attempt  to  extend  her  empire  west- 
ward. 

For  more  than  three  centuries,  accordingly,  the 
newly  founded  AraniBean  states  and  the  other  little 
nations  of  Syria  and  Palestine  had  the  opportunity 
to  work  out  their  destiny  undisturbed  by  foreign  in- 
fluence. With  the  exception  of  a  few  inscriptions 
and  a  few  items  in  Greek  historians,  our  only  sources 
for  the  history  of  this  period  are  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament.  These  concern  themselves  almost  exclu- 
sively with  the  fortunes  of  the  chosen  people  ;  and, 
even  in  the  case  of  Israel,  their  record  is  fragmentary. 
Future  exploration  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  throw  light 
on  many  an  obscure  point. 

As  Israel  grew  strong  through  assimilation  of  the 
older  population,  it  began  to  push  out  from  Mount 
Ephraim  into  the  fertile  plain  of  Esdraelon,  which  up 
to  this  time  had  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Amor- 
ites.  This  advance  led  the  Amorites  to  form  a  new 
alliance  under  the  leadership  of  a  certain  Shamgar 
son  of  Anath.1  The  location  of  the  Hebrew  tribes, 
as  well  as  the  editorial  combination  of  Sisera  with 
Jabin,2  lead  us  to  regard  this  incident  as  belonging  to 
a  period  soon  after  the  conquest.  The  name  Shamgar 
is  not  Semitic,  but  is  apparently  the  same  as  Sangar, 
the  name  of  a  Hittite  king  of  Carchemish  in  the  time 
of  Ashurnatsirpal  and  Shalmaneser  II.  Under  his 
rule  Israel  was  much  distressed.  "  Caravans  ceased, 
and  merchants  travelled  by  roundabout  ways  ;  villages 
ceased  in  Israel."  His  successor,  probably  his  son, 
1  Jud.  v.  6.  2  Jud.  iv.  2. 


PERIOD  OF    THE    HEBREW     .11  DOES  159 

was  Sisera,  the  second  element  of  whose  name  appears 
in  the  Hittito  names  Maura-sera,  Khate-sera,  and  Pi- 
siri.1  It  is  hard  to  avoid  the  inference  that  we  have 
here  a  Hittite  dynasty,  a  result  of  the  southward 
migration  induced  by  the  Sea-peoples.2 

At  this  juncture  the  prophetess  Deborah  appeared 
to  reunite  the  scattered  tribes  of  Israel.  She  ap- 
pealed to  their  common  faith  in  Yahweh  ;  she  recalled 
his  victories  in  the  past  as  a  pledge  of  success  in  the 
future ;  and  she  summoned  them  under  penalty  of  a 
curse  to  "come  to  the  aid  of  Yahweh  like  heroes." 
Thus  she  revived  the  Mosaic  teaching,  which  through 
the  occupation  of  Canaan  was  in  danger  of  being 
forgotten,  and  saved  Israel  from  losing  the  measure 
of  religious  and  of  political  unity  that  it  had  already 
attained. 

Ephraim  responded  to  the  call,  together  with  Ben- 
jamin (the  "  southerner "),  a  clan  that  had  split  off 
from  it  soon  after  the  conquest.  Manasseh  was  rep- 
resented by  Machir,  one  of  its  principal  families, 
which  subsequently  migrated  to  the  east  side  of  the 
Jordan.  The  Leah  tribes,  Zebulon  and  Issachar, 
came  also.  Of  the  adopted  tribes,  the  so-called  chil- 
dren of  the  concubines,  only  Naphtali  appeared,  an 
act  for  which  it  received  special  praise  in  the  Song 
of  Deborah.  The  other  adopted  tribes,  whose  sym- 
pathy with  the  Canaanites  was  doubtless  strong,  re- 
mained in  their  homes.     So  also  did  the  Leah  tribe 

1  See  p.  106. 

2  Marquart,  Fundamente  israelitischer  v.  jiidischer  Geschichte, 
p.  3;  Moore,  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society,  1898,  h., 
p.  159. 


160  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

of  Reuben  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan.  For  this 
apostasy  from  their  God  and  treachery  to  their  people 
they  were  bitterly  reproached  by  Deborah.  Levi, 
Simeon,  and  Judah,  as  previously  remarked  (p.  152), 
are  not  mentioned  in  the  Song. 

Sisera  gathered  his  forces  in  the  same  region  where 
the  Canaanites  had  made  their  stand  against  Tahu- 
tiraes  III.  at  "Taanach  by  the  waters  of  Megiddo." 
He  had  chariots  of  iron  and  skilled  troops,  while  the 
Israelites  had  no  chariots  and  were  but  poorly  armed ; 
nevertheless  he  was  defeated  and,  while  seeking  a 
hiding-place  in  the  tent  of  Jael  the  Kenite,  was  slain 
by  her  with  a  mallet.  This  was  the  last  united  stand 
of  the  Amorites.  Although  many  strongholds  re- 
mained to  be  conquered,  Israel  was  no  longer  in 
danger  from  the  older  population. 

The  occupation  of  Canaan  by  Moab,  Ammon,  Israel, 
Edom,  and  other  kindred  tribes  relieved  for  a  time 
the  pressure  of  the  nomadic  Arainsean  hordes ;  but 
soon  the  scanty  pasture-lands  again  became  crowded, 
and  a  new  wave  of  Hebraic  migration  broke  upon 
Palestine. 

The  Book  of  Judges  x  has  preserved  the  memory  of 
a  Moabite  incursion  which  it  assigns  to  the  early  part 
of  the  period  of  the  Judges,  and  it  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  this  was  caused  by  an  impulse  of  the 
Midianites  in  the  rear.2  Eglon,  king  of  Moab,  took 
possession  of  part  of  the  territory  of  Benjamin  and 
Ephraim,  and  garrisoned  it  with  his  own  people ;  but 
a  certain  Benjamite,  named  Ehud,  gained  a  private 
interview,  through  the  ruse  that  he  was  bringing  an 
1  Chap.  iii.  '2  See  Jud.  vi.-vii. 


FEKIOD    OF    THE    HEBREW    JUDGES  161 

oracle,  and  stabbed  him  with  a  long  dagger  that  ho 
had  concealed  in  his  clothing.  Making  his  escape, 
he  roused  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountain-country  of 
Ephraim.  They  seized  the  fords  of  the  Jordan  ;  and 
attacking  the  Moabites,  who  were  panic-stricken  at 
the  death  of  their  king,  slew  them  to  the  last  man. 

A  similar  invasion  of  Israel  by  the  Edomites, 
which  we  should  expect  to  find  at  this  point  in  the 
history,  is  lacking  from  the  present  form  of  the  Book 
of  Judges ;  and  in  its  place  we  find  the  account  of 
an  oppression  by  Cushan-Iiishathaim,  king  of  Aram 
Naharaim.1  An  eight-year  subjugation  of  Israel  by 
Aramaeans  of  the  Euphrates  Valley  is,  however,  in- 
conceivable. At  this  time  the  Aramaeans,  like  the 
Israelites,  were  endeavouring  to  build  up  new  states 
on  the  ruins  of  the  Hittite,  Mitannian,  and  Canaanite 
kingdoms ;  and  were  not  yet  in  the  position  to  at- 
tempt foreign  conquest. 

For  this  reason  a  number  of  historians  are  inclined 
to  regard  this  incident  as  apocryphal.  A  more  prob- 
able solution  of  the  difficulty  is,  that  we  have  here  a 
case  of  textual  corruption.  Aram  is  a  common  mis- 
take for  Edom,2  and  having  once  been  read,  Naharaim 
would  easily  come  into  the  text  as  a  gloss.  Edom  is 
what  we  should  expect  here  in  the  light  of  the  general 
historical  situation  and  of  the  fact  that  the  deliverer 
belonged  to  a  South  Judsean  clan.  If  this  be  the 
true  reading,  then  Cushan  Kishathaim  is  probably  a 
corruption  of  the  name  of  one  of  the  kings  of  Edom 
in  the  list  of  Gen.  xxxvi.  31-39.  Klostermann 3  first 
suggested  that  he  is  the  same  as  Husham,  the  third 

1  Jud.  iii.  7-11.        5  See  p.  153.        3  Geschichte  Israels,  p.  119. 


162  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

king  of  the  list ;  and  that  Rishathaim  is  a  corruption 
of  Rosh-hat-teniani,  "  chief  of  the  Temanites  "  (in 
Gen.  xxxvi.  34  Husham  is  said  to  have  come  from  the 
land  of  the  Temanites).  Marquart 1  adopts  this  view, 
except  that  he  proposes  to  correct  Rishathaim  into 
Rosh-'ittaim,  "  chief  of  the  city  of  'Ittaiin."  It  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  Cushan,  king  of  Aram,  is 
nothing  else  than  a  perverted  form  of  Husham,  king 
of  Edom ;  and  that  in  the  account  of  his  oppression 
we  have  the  record  of  an  Edomite  invasion  of  Judah 
contemporaneous  with  the  Moabite  invasion  of  Ben- 
jamin and  induced  by  the  same  cause,  namely,  the 
increasing  pressure  of  the  Midianites  upon  the  south- 
ern and  eastern  borders  of  Palestine. 

Before  long  the  Moabites  gave  way  ;  and  this  bar- 
rier being  removed,  the  Midianites  fell  in  full  force 
upon  Israel.  Gideon,  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  was 
leader  in  the  war  against  them.  In  Jud.  vi.-viii.  two 
accounts  of  his  career,  that  are  partly  parallel  to  one 
another  and  partly  supplementary,  have  been  woven 
together  by  the  editor.  From  a  comparison  of  the 
two  we  extract  the  following  main  facts.  Gideon 
roused  his  own  clan  of  Abiezer  and  fell  upon  the 
Midianites  by  night  as  they  were  encamped  in  the 
plain  of  Jezreel.  They  were  thrown  into  panic,  and 
fled  toward  the  Jordan ;  but  the  Ephraimites  seized 
the  fords,  and  slew  great  numbers  of  them  when 
they  attempted  to  pass.  Zebah  and  Zalmunna  (or, 
according  to  the  other  account,  Oreb  and  Zeeb), 
their  two   kings,   succeeded  in   crossing,   but   were 

1  Fundamente  isr.  u.  jiid.  Oesch.,  p.  11;  see  also  Cheyne,  En- 
cycl.  Biblica,  i.,  col.  969. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    HEBREW    JUDGES  163 

pursued  by  Gideon,  captured,  and  slain  with  his 
own  hand. 

The  peril  must  have  been  extreme  and  the  victory 
remarkable,  for  the  "  Day  of  Midian  "  continued  to 
be  remembered  down  to  late  times  as  a  type  of  won- 
derful deliverance.1  So  great  was  the  gratitude  of 
the  Israelites  that  they  offered  to  make  Gideon  king ; 
but  he  declined  the  honour,  and  asked  merely  that  the 
golden  rings  taken  from  the  Midianites  might  be 
granted  him.  These  people  were  traders  and,  like 
the  modern  Bedawin,  carried  their  wealth  on  their 
persons.  Seventy  pounds  of  gold  Avere  gathered 
from  the  fallen,  and  out  of  this  Gideon,  in  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  divine  aid,  made  an  ephod,  or  gold- 
covered  image  of  Yah  well,  which  he  set  up  in  Ophrah, 
his  native  town. 

In  close  connection  with  this  victory  we  must  place 
the  exploit  of  the  fourth  king  of  Edom  mentioned  in 
Gen.  xxxvi.  35 :  "  And  Husham  died,  and  Hadad,  the 
son  of  Bedad,  who  smote  Midian  in  the  field  of  Moab, 
reigned  in  his  stead  ;  and  the  name  of  his  city  was 
Avith."  The  invasion  of  Israel  implies  that  the  Midian- 
ites had  previously  overrun  Moabite  territory,  and  with 
this  corresponds  the  statement  that  Hadad  defeated 
Midian  "in  the  field  of  Moab."  After  Gideon's  vic- 
tory the  Edomites  seem  to  have  plucked  up  courage 
to  attack  their  enemy  on  Moabite  ground,  and  to 
have  inflicted  upon  them  a  second  defeat.  If  this 
combination  be  correct,  it  is  of  great  value  in  deter- 
mining the  approximate  date  of  Gideon,  and  in  fixing 
the  chronological  sequence  of   the  Judges.     Avith, 

1  Isa.  \x   4 ;  x.  26 ;  Ps   lxxxiii.  11. 


164  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Hadad's  capital,  has  been  supposed  to  be  a  Moabite 
town,  and  from  this  it  has  been  inferred  that  the 
Edomite  kingdom  at  this  time  was  much  larger  than 
at  any  subsequent  period  of  its  history.  From  this 
double  disaster  Midian  never  recovered. 

After  the  death  of  Gideon  his  seventy  sons  suc- 
ceeded to  his  influence  in  Israel ;  but  one  of  them, 
Abimelech,  the  son  of  a  Canaanite  woman,  was 
dissatisfied  with  a  divided  authority,  and  resolved 
to  secure  for  himself  the  kingship  that  his  father 
had  declined.  His  mother's  kinsmen,  who  dwelt  in 
Shechem,  he  persuaded  to  set  up  a  city-monarchy 
of  the  old  Canaanite  type  and  to  furnish  him  with 
money  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  temple  of  Baal- 
berith.  With  this  he  hired  a  band  of  ruffians,  and  fall- 
ing upon  his  brothers,  slew  them  all  except  Jotham, 
who  had  hidden  himself.  He  was  then  made  king, 
and  not  only  the  people  of  Shechem  but  also  the 
Israelites  of  the  vicinity  acknowledged  his  authority. 
Instead  of  proving  a  defender  of  the  Canaanites, 
however,  as  had  been  anticipated,  he  showed  himself 
more  than  half  Israelite  in  his  sympathies ;  and  the 
result  was  that  his  maternal  kinsmen  turned  against 
him,  and  listened  to  the  suggestion  of  a  certain  Gaal, 
son  of  Obed  (or  Jo-baal  ?),  a  newcomer  in  Shechem, 
that  they  should  refuse  to  submit  longer  to  his  rule. 
Abimelech  was  informed  of  the  revolt,  and  falling 
suddenly  upon  the  town,  captured  it  and  razed  it  to 
the  ground.  He  did  not  long  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his 
victory  ;  for  while  fighting  against  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Thebez,  his  head  was  crushed  by  a  mill-stone 
thrown  by  a  woman  from  the  roof  of  the  tower. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    HEBREW    JUDGES  1G5 

This  story  is  one  of  the  oldest  portions  of  the  Book 
of  Judges  and  it  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  the 
state  of  Canaan  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  generation  after 
the  conquest.  Shechem  was  still  Canaanite,  although 
Israelites  seem  to  have  resided  there.  The  name  of 
the  god  of  the  city,  Baal-berith  or  El-berith,  "  Cove- 
nant Lord,"  or  "  Covenant  God  "  suggests  that  Canaan- 
ites  and  Israelites  were  united  on  the  basis  of  a  com- 
mon religion ;  yet  racial  antagonism  was  strong,  and 
the  appeal  could  still  bo  made  to  the  memory  of  the 
days  when  Shechem  was  ruled  by  its  native  dynasty 
of  Hamor.  On  the  whole,  however,  it  is  clear  that 
throughout  the  land  Israelitish  influence  predomi- 
nated, and  that  the  Canaanites  were  being  slowly 
absorbed. 

After  Abimelech  a  late  editor  of  the  Book  of 
Judges  has  inserted  the  two  minor  judges  Tola  and 
Jair.1  The  latter  is  the  same  person  whose  conquest 
of  the  "  villages  of  Jair  "  is  recorded  in  Num.  xxxii.  41 
in  connection  with  the  history  of  Moses.  Whether  the 
editor  is  right  in  inserting  his  victories  at  this  point 
is  uncertain  ;  but  this  much  is  clear,  that  the  settle- 
ments of  Manasseh  east  of  the  Jordan  were  not  made 
in  the  time  of  Moses,  but  were  the  result  of  a  back- 
migration  of  this  tribe  into  Gilead.  In  the  Song  of 
Deborah2  Machir,  the  "son"  of  Manasseh,  is  located 
west  of  the  Jordan.  It  is  probable  that  the  chronol- 
ogy of  the  editor  at  this  point  is  approximately  cor- 
rect. A  considerable  time  after  the  conquest  must 
have  elapsed  before  Israel  could  have  attempted 
expansion  outside  of  Canaan,  and  the  hostility  of  the 
1  Jud.  x.  1-5.  *.  Jud.  v.  14. 


166  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Ammonites  which  we  meet  in  the  stories  of  Jephthah 
and  of  Saul  is  most  naturally  explained  as  the  result 
of  aggression  on  the  part  of  Israel. 

When  the  Manassites  migrated  eastward  they  came 
into  conflict  with  the  northern  outposts  of  the  Ammon- 
ites. The  result  was  that  the  latter  gathered  their 
forces  and  invaded  Gilead.1  The  Israelites  could 
find  no  competent  leader  and  were  worsted.  There- 
upon they  called  to  their  aid  Jephthah,  the  son  of  a 
harlot,  who  had  been  driven  out  by  his  legitimate 
brothers,  and  who  had  been  leading  a  freebooter  life 
in  the  land  of  Tob.  Jephthah  consented  to  return 
on  condition  that,  if  victorious,  he  should  be  recog- 
nized as  chieftain  by  all  the  people.  This  condition 
was  accepted,  and  he  went  with  the  elders  to  Mizpeh,2 
where  he  vowed  that,  if  he  were  successful,  he  would 
offer  to  Yahweh  the  first  thing  that  met  him  on  his 
return.  He  won  a  great  victory,  pursuing  the  Am- 
monites into  the  heart  of  their  country ;  but  when  he 
came  home,  he  was  met  at  the  door  by  his  daughter, 
his  only  child,  and  was  compelled  to  sacrifice  her. 

While  Israel  was  busy  establishing  itself  in  East- 
ern Canaan,  the  Philistines  were  occupied  with  the 
same  task  in  Western  Canaan,  and  sooner  or  later  the 
two  peoples  were  bound  to  come  into  conflict.  The 
first  brushes  were  with  the  Danites  who  dwelt  to  the 
southeast  of  Mount  Ephraim.  The  story  of  Samson 3 
preserves  the  memory  of  the  heroic  days  of  border- 

1  Jud.  xi. 

*  According   to    Schumacher,   Mittheilungen  d.  deutsch,  Palest. 
Vereins,  1897,  p.  86,  =  Masfa  northwest  of  Jerash. 
3  Jud.  xiii.-xvi. 


PERIOD  OF  THE  HEBREW  JUDGES    167 

w.'irfare  between  the  outposts  of  the  two  nations. 
In  these  conflicts  the  Philistines  were  usually  victo- 
rious on  account  of  their  better  armament  and  their 
superior  military  organization.  Although  they  were 
divided  into  five  tribes,  having  Gaza,  Gath,  Ashkelon, 
Ashdod,  and  Ekron  as  their  capitals,  they  were  closely 
confederated,  and  acted  with  a  unity  unknown  as  yet 
in  Israel. 

The  Danites  were  presently  reduced  to  submission, 
and  the  Philistines  began  to  threaten  Mount  Ephraim. 
Mustering  a  large  army,  they  encamped  in  Aphek,  a 
town  situated  probably  at  the  entrance  of  the  modern 
Wady  Kaneh  that  leads  up  to  Shechem.1  The  Eph- 
raimites  and  Benjaminites  went  forth  to  meet  them 
and  pitched  in  Eben-ezer.  A  battle  was  fought  in 
which  the  Israelites  Avere  worsted.  Thinking  that 
their  defeat  had  been  due  to  the  absence  of  their 
national  god,  they  sent  to  Shiloh  to  fetch  the  ark,  that 
had  led  them  so  often  to  victory  in  the  days  of  Moses 
and  of  Joshua.  In  spite  of  its  presence,  however,  they 
were  again  routed  with  great  slaughter,  and  the  ark 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  who  carried  it 
off  and  placed  it  in  the  temple  of  Dagon  at  Ashdod. 

The  land  of  Israel  now  lay  open  to  the  enemies, 
and  they  spread  themselves  over  it,  burning  and 
pillaging  as  they  went.  Shiloh  was  probably  de- 
stroyed at  this  time 2  and  its  priesthood  was  com- 
pelled to  flee  to  Nob.3  Ephraim  and  Benjamin  were 
made  tributary  and  a  garrison  was  placed  in  Geba.4 
Apparently  the  whole  of  the  fertile  Plain  of  Esdrae- 

1  1  Sam.  iv.  1.  2  Jer.  vii.  12-14. 

3 1  Sam.  xxi.  4  1  Sam.  xiii.  3. 


168  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Ion,  through  which  the  trade-route  to  the  Euphrates 
passed,  fell  also  into  their  hands. 

To  this  period  of  Philistine  supremacy  belongs  the 
visit  of  an  Egyptian  official  to  Palestine  that  is  de- 
scribed in  the  recently  discovered  Papyrus  Goleni- 
sclieff}  The  narrative  is  dated  "  in  the  fifth  year  "  ; 
that  is,  according  to  Miiller,  the  fifth  year  of  the 
priest-king  Khrikhor  (c.  1070) ;  according  to  Erman, 
the  fifth  year  of  Ramessu  XII.,  under  whom  Khri- 
khor usurped  the  throne  of  Thebes. 

The  author,  Wen-Amen,  was  sent  to  fetch  timber 
from  Palestine.  He  went  to  Tanis,  where  Smendes 
(Nesbindedi),  the  first  king  of  the  XXIst  (Tanitic) 
dynasty  was  reigning,  presented  his  credentials,  and 
asked  for  a  ship  to  convey  him.  Smendes  assented, 
but  it  was  a  month  before  Wen-Amen  could  proceed 
on  his  way.  His  first  landing  place  was  Dor,  on  the 
coast  of  Kharu  (Palestine)  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Car- 
mel.  Here  he  was  hospitably  received  by  Badir,  the 
king  of  the  Zakkala,2  who  sent  him  plenty  of  bread, 
wine,  and  beef.  During  the  night  one  of '  the  men  of 
his  ship  ran  away  taking  with  him  a  pound  of  gold  and 
over  six  pounds  of  silver  that  were  destined  to  pay 
for  the  timber.  Early  the  next  morning  Wen-Amen 
laid  his  complaint  before  the  king  of  Dor  and  de- 
manded justice.  Badir  replied  that,  if  the  thief  were 
one  of  his  own  peopkvhe  would  make  good  the  loss ; 
but  since  he  was  an  Egyptian,  he  could  only  insti- 

1  Golenischeff,  Recueil  de  Travaux,  xxi.,  p.  74  ;  Miiller,  Mit- 
teilungen  der  vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1900,  p.  14  ;  Erruan, 
Ag.  Zeitschrift,  1900,  p.  1. 

-  See  p.  148. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    HEBREW    JUDGES  169 

tute  a  search.  After  nine  days  nothing  had  been 
discovered,  and  Wen-Amen  requested  permission  to 
depart. 

Leaving  Dor,  he  arrived  in  Tyre,  and  thence  pro- 
ceeded toward  Gebal.  On  the  way  he  fell  in  with  a 
ship  of  the  Zakkala,  which  he  suspected  of  hiding 
the  thief  that  had  taken  his  money.  Searching  it,  he 
found  six  pounds  of  silver,  which  he  appropriated 
until  the  Zakkala  should  make  good  his  loss.  On 
arriving  at  Gebal  he  hid  on  shore  the  silver  and  the 
image  of  Amen  that  he  was  carrying,  and  sent  back 
his  ship,  which  was  not  adapted  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  timber.  Scarcely  had  it  gone,  when  he  re- 
ceived an  order  -from  the  king  of  Gebal  to  leave  the 
port  at  once.  His  reply  unfortunately  is  missing 
from  the  papyrus,  except  the  conclusion  in  which  he 
offers  to  return  to  Egypt  on  the  first  vessel  that  may 
be  going  in  that  direction. 

Nineteen  days  passed,  during  which  the  king  sent 
him  daily  a  message  to  be  gone ;  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  he  found  a  ship  and  put  all  his  goods  on 
board,  waiting  for  nightfall  to  bring  also  the  god 
and  the  treasure.  Meanwhile  one  of  the  king's  pages 
became  ecstatic  and  prophesied  that  his  master 
should  receive  the  messenger  that  Amen  had  sent. 
Zekar-Ba'al  accordingly  sent  word  to  Wen-Amen 
to  remain  in  Gebal,  and  the  following  morning 
summoned  him  to  appear  at  the  palace  at  the 
time  of  the  morning  sacrifice.  First  he  asked 
him,  how  long  it  was  since  he  had  left  Thebes ; 
and  Wen-Amen  replied,  "  Five  months  and  a  day." 
Then  he  inquired  after  his  credentials  ;  and  on  being 


170  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

informed  that  they  had  been  left  with  Smendes  at 
Tanis,  he  grew  very  angry  at  this  affront  to  his  royal 
dignity.  Finally,  he  demanded  what  Wen-Amen  had 
come  for ;  and  learning  that  it  was  for  timber,  asked 
how  much  money  he  had  brought  with  him.  Wen- 
Amen  informed  him,  but  he  pronounced  the  sum  too 
small,  and  brought  out  the  accounts  of  his  forefathers 
(doubtless  cuneiform  tablets  like  the  Amarna  letters), 
in  which  it  was  recorded  that  they  had  received  200 
pounds  of  silver  for  similar  services.  After  consid- 
erable discussion,  in  which  Wen-Amen  lauded  the 
greatness  of  Amen  and  appealed  to  the  fact  that  the 
king's  forefathers  had  reverenced  his  authority,  per- 
mission was  given  to  send  to  Egypt  for  the  credentials 
and  for  more  money. 

Within  two  weeks  the  ship  of  Gebal  returned, 
bringing  from  Smendes  and  his  queen  Tent-Amen 
8  pounds  of  gold,  4  silver  vessels,  10  pieces  of  royal 
linen,  500  rolls  of  papyrus,  500  ox-hides,  500  ropes, 
500  sacks  of  lentils,  and  5  mst '  of  fish.  These  gifts 
the  king  was  pleased  to  receive  graciously,  and 
set  300  men  and  300  oxen  at  work  in  felling  and 
drawing  timber.  In  six  months  time  the  wood  was 
piled  on  the  beach  ready  to  be  loaded  into  the  ships 
that  were  to  convey  it  to  Egypt,  and  the  king  invited 
Wen-Amen  to  accompany  him  on  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion. On  the  way  he  boasted  greatly  of  his  clemency 
in  paying  attention  to  Khrikhor's  request,  and  re- 
minded him  of  the  envoys  of  Kha-em-weset  (one  of 
the  later  Ramessids),  who  remained  fifteen  years  in 
Phoenicia,  and  died  there  without  ever  returning  to 
Egypt.     In  order  to  give  point  to  his  remark,  the 


PERIOD    OF    THE    HEBREW    JUDGES  171 

king  ordered  one  of  his  pages  to  conduct  Wen- A  men 
to  the  spot  where  the  envoys  wore  buried  ;  but  he 
politely  begged  to  be  excused,  and  suggested  that  it 
would  bo  better,  if  the  king,  instead  of  following  the 
example  of  his  forefathers,  would  set  up  a  tablet  com- 
memorating his  reverence  for  the  god  Amen-lla  ;  then 
in  future  generations  Egyptian  travellers  who  should 
read  it  would  make  libations  for  the  repose  of  his 
soul.  To  this  the  king  replied,  "  That  is  a  great  tes- 
timony !  " 

As  Wen- Amen  was  about  to  depart,  he  spied  eleven 
ships  of  the  Zakkala  lying  in  wait  for  him  outside  of 
the  harbour,  and  in  despair  sat  down  on  the  beach  and 
wept.  The  king  sent  his  secretary  to  inquire  what 
was  the  matter,  and  when  he  heard,  was  also  moved 
to  tears.  To  console  him  he  sent  two  measures  of 
wine,  a  ram,  and  an  Egyptian  singing-girl,  and  prom- 
ised to  help  him  against  the  Zakkala.  The  next 
morning  he  summoned  them  before  him  and  appar- 
ently persuaded  them  to  let  Wen- Amen  go.  Accord- 
ingly, he  set  out,  but  instead  of  proceeding  to  Egypt, 
was  driven  by  contrary  winds  upon  the  coast  of 
Alashia  (Cyprus).  Here  the  natives  threatened  to 
kill  him,  and  dragged  him  before  Hatibi,  the  queen  of 
the  place.  Weu-Amen  could  not  speak  the  language 
of  the  country,  but  found  at  last  a  man  who  under- 
stood Egyptian,  and  through  this  interpreter  begged 
for  his  life  and  the  protection  of  his  goods.  Here 
the  papyrus  breaks  off.  He  must  have  returned  to 
Egypt,  for  this  document  is  the  official  report  of  nis 
journey  ;  but  whether  he  succeeded  in  bringing  back 
the  timber  for  which  he  had  set  out,  we  do  not  know. 


172  SYKIA    AND   PALESTINE 

This  narrative  gives  a  welcome  glimpse  into  the 
political  relations  of  Palestine  and  Syria  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eleventh  century.  Egypt  had  not  merely 
lost  her  power,  but  had  become  contemptible  in  the 
eyes  of  her  former  subjects.  Her  ambassadors  were 
bullied  and  were  detained  in  captivity.  Even  ser- 
vants of  the  Syrian  princes  dared  to  make  jokes  at 
the  expense  of  the  Pharaoh.  All  these  insults  had  to 
be  borne  meekly,  since  there  were  no  ships  and  no 
soldiers  to  send  to  avenge  them.  The  Palestinian 
coast  south  of  Carmel  was  in  possession  of  the  Zak- 
kala,  kinsmen  of  the  Philistines.  Gebal  was  Phoeni- 
cian and  was  the  seat  of  a  high  culture.  The  cus- 
toms of  its  people  presented  many  interesting  parallels 
to  those  of  the  Hebrews. 

During  this  period  the  old  Babylonian  empire, 
which  had  long  been  dormant,  manifested  unexpected 
signs  of  vitality.  About  1100  the  Kassite  dynasty, 
which  had  ruled  for  600  years,  fell,  in  consequence  of 
repeated  defeats  by  the  Elamites ;  and  the  new  dy- 
nasty of  Isin  (?),  of  native  origin,  took  possessiou  of 
the  throne.  The  accession  of  these  kings  revived  the 
energy  of  the  ancient  empire,  and  restored  it  to  some- 
thing of  its  former  prestige.  Nebuchadrezzar  I.,  the 
sixth  king  of  the  dynasty,  defeated  the  Elamites  and 
carried  his  arms  into  Syria.  In  one  of  his  inscrip- 
tions 1  he  styles  himself  "  Conqueror  of  the  land  of 
A-mur-ru,"  that  is,  "  the  land  of  the  Amorites,"  the  old 
Babylonian  name  of  Syria  being  retained,2  although 
the  Amorites  had  long  since  ceased  to  be  the  domi- 
nant  race.     How   extensive   Nebuchadrezzar's   con- 

1  Keiiinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  iii.  1,  p.  164.  2  See  p.  29. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    IIEHllEW    JUDGES  173 

quests  were,  or  how  long  he  retained  them,  we  do  not 
know.  In  the  next  generation  we  find  the  same  region 
occupied  by  Tiglath-pileser  L,  king  of  Assyria,1  so 
that  the  Babylonian  success  must  have  been  short- 
lived. 

The  Philistine  domination  of  Israel,  during  which 
the  events  just  recorded  probably  took  place,  did  not 
last  long.  The  old  religious  fervour,  to  which  Moses, 
Deborah,  Gideon,  and  the  other  "judges"  had  ap- 
pealed, still  lived.  Bands  of  religious  devotees,  the 
"  sons  of  the  prophets,"  traversed  the  land  awaken- 
ing the  patriotism  of  the  people.  Through  music 
and  dancing  they  worked  themselves  up  to  a  point 
of  enthusiasm  where  they  became  ecstatic  and 
prophesied.  So  infectious  was  their  frenzy  that  by- 
standers were  seized  with  it,  and  were  ready  to  go 
any  length  in  the  service  of  Yahweh.  Here  was  a 
mighty  force  for  the  unification  of  Israel  and  for  the 
expulsion  of  the  Philistines,  if  only  it  could  be  guided 
by  a  competent  leader. 

The  man  who  proved  himself  master  of  the  situa- 
tion was  Samuel,  the  seer  of  Kamah.  From  1  Sam. 
xix.  20  it  is  safe  to  infer  that  he  organized  the 
ecstatics  into  communities,  and  thus  made  their  influ- 
ence more  effective.  To  him  also  seems  to  have  been 
entrusted  the  selection  of  a  leader  in  the  projected 
uprising.  One  day  a  Benjaminite  named  Saul  the  son 
of  Kish,  of  Gibeah,  came  to  consult  him  in  regard  to 
his  father's  lost  asses,  and  in  him  Samuel  recognized 
a  God-sent  leader.  Straightway  he  fetched  a  cruse 
of  oil  and  anointed  him,  as  the  old  Egyptian  kings 
1  See  p.  179. 


174  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

anointed  their  appointees,1  to  be  king  over  Israel. 
He  then  gave  him  a  series  of  "  signs  "  that  should 
attest  to  him  his  selection  by  Yahweh  to  deliver  his 
people,  the  chief  of  which  was  that  the  spirit  should 
fall  upon  him  when  he  met  the  sons  of  the  prophets 
and  that  he  should  prophesy  with  them.  Then  he 
should  hold  himself  ready  for  the  first  opportunity  to 
come  forward  as  a  leader. 

All  turned  out  as  Samuel  had  anticipated.  Saul 
was  seized  with  prophetic  ecstasy,  and  knew  himself 
chosen  of  Yahweh.  An  opportunity  soon  occurred 
for  him  to  declare  himself.  The  Ammonites,  who  in 
consequence  of  the  Philistine  wars  had  encroached 
greatly  upon  Israel  since  the  time  of  Jephthah,  be- 
sieged the  city  of  Jabesh  in  Gilead.2  The  inhabitants 
were  willing  to  surrender,  but  the  only  terms  that 
Nahash,  king  of  Ammon,  would  make  were  that  he 
should  put  out  the  right  eyes  of  all  the  citizens  for  a 
reproach  to  Israel.  The  unfortunate  Jabeshites 
obtained  a  week's  delay  to  solicit  help  from  their 
kinsmen.  Their  messengers  went  from  town  to  town, 
and  were  received  everywhere  with  weeping,  but  no 
one  moved  to  their  rescue.  At  last  they  arrived  at 
Gibeah,  and  Saul,  who  was  returning  from  ploughing, 
inquired  what  the  commotion  was  about.  When  he 
heard,  "  the  spirit  of  Elohim  came  mightily  upon 
him."  Cutting  up  a  yoke  of  oxen,  he  sent  the  pieces 
throughout  the  borders  of  Israel  by  messengers,  say- 
ing, "  Whosoever  cometh  not  forth  after  Saul  and 
after  Samuel,  so  shall  it  be  done  unto  his  oxen." 
The  effect  was  magical,  the  leader  had  appeared,  and 
1  See  p.  83.  5  1  Sam.  xi. 


J'EKIOD    OF    THE     ILFJSKKW    .MUCKS 


(0 


all  the  northern  tribes  rallied  to  his  standard.  The 
Ammonites  were  smitten,  Jabesh  w;is  relieved,  and 
Saul  was  chosen  king  by  acclamation. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  contemporaneously 
with  the  rise  of  a  monarchy  in  Israel,  Edom  also 
seems  to  have  taken  a  step  in  the  direction  of  greater 
consolidation  of  its  government.  Hadad  II.,  the 
eighth  king  of  Edom,1  is  mentioned  without  the  name 
of  his  father.  This  suggests,  not  textual  corruption, 
as  Marquart  and  Cheyne  think,  but  a  change  from  an 
elective  to  a  hereditary  monarchy.  Hadad's  father 
is  not  named  because  he  was  the  king  who  immedi- 
ately preceded  him  in  the  list.  This  view  is  con- 
firmed by  1  Kings  si.  14,  where  another  Hadad  is 
said  to  have  been  "  of  the  king's  seed  in  Edom." 
Hadad  II.  had  for  his  capital  Pa'u  (LXX.  Pe'or), 
which  points  to  a  dominion  over  Moab  similar  to  that 
exercised  by  Hadad  I.2  His  wife  is  said  to  have  been 
"  a  daughter  of  Matred,"  instead  of  which  we  should 
probably  read  Mutsri,  or  North  Arabia.  The  king- 
dom of  Mutsri,  which  played  an  important  part  in  later 
history,  was  already  powerful ;  and  Hadad  found  it 
to  his  advantage  to  confederate  himself  with  it. 
1  Gen.  xxxvi.  39.  s  See  p.  163. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  HEBREW  KINGS. 
1020-885  B.C. 

The  first  act  of  Saul's  reign  was  to  gather  a  force 
of  3,000  men  and  smite  the  garrison  at  Geba.1  This 
act  of  revolt  brought  out  the  entire  army  of  the  Phil- 
istines, and  so  alarmed  the  Israelites  that  they  fled 
for  refuge  to  caves  and  thickets.  At  this  juncture 
Jonathan,  Saul's  son,  and  his  squire  surprised  the 
outpost  at  Michmash  and  threw  the  enemy  into  con- 
fusion. An  earthquake  also  occurred  which  filled 
them  with  terror.  Saul  and  his  little  band  then  fell 
upon  them,  and  defeated  them.  Through  this  vic- 
tory Saul  won  back  the  freedom  of  Israel ;  but  the 
power  of  the  Philistines  was  still  unbroken,  and  he 
had  to  struggle  all  his  life  to  prevent  a  second  en- 
slavement. "  And  there  was  sore  war  against  the 
Philistines  all  the  days  of  Saul."  And  when  Saul 
saw  any  mighty  man,  or  any  valiant  man,  he  took 
him  unto  him."2  Among  those  whom  he  thus  gath- 
ered into  his  standing  army  were  not  only  men  of 
the  northern  tribes,  but  also  Judseans,  and  even 
Edomites. 

According  to  1  Sam.  xiv.  47  Saul  waged  successful 

1  1  Sam.  xiii.  2.  2  1  Sam.  xiv.  52. 

176 


PERIOD    OF    THE     EAKLY     EEBEEW    KINGS      177 

war  against  Moab,  Amnion,  Zobah,  and  Eclom  ;  the 
last  name,  however,  is  doubtless  a  textual  corruption 
of  Aram.  Edom  was  separated  from  the  North 
Israelitish  kingdom  by  Judah,  so  that  there  is  no 
probability  that  Saul  came  into  conflict  with  it ; 
while  the  Aramaeans  on  the  north,  who  were  formida- 
ble in  the  time  of  David,  may  well  have  been  hostile 
during  the  reign  of  his  predecessor.1 

Among  the  Judoeans  who  took  service  under  Saul 
was  David  the  son  of  Jesse,  of  Bethlehem.  By  his 
musical  ability  he  won  the  heart  of  the  king,  and  be- 
came his  armour-bearer.  In  this  position  he  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  leader  against  the  Philistines, 
and  so  endeared  himself  to  the  people  that  he  won 
from  them  the  praise,  "  Saul  has  slain  his  thou- 
sands, but  David  his  ten  thousands."  At  court  he 
was  loved  by  everybody,  including  the  king's  own 
sons  and  daughters.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Saul,  who 
was  subject  to  fits  of  melancholy,  gradually  grew 
jealous  of  him,  and  finally  tried  to  slay  him.  David 
was  compelled  to  flee  into  the  wilderness  of  Judah, 
where  he  led  a  precarious  life  as  the  chief  of  a  band 
of  freebooters.  At  times  he  was  hard  pressed  by 
Saul,  and  once  he  was  driven  to  the  desperate  ex- 
tremity of  taking  refuge  among  the  Philistines,  out  of 
whose  hands  he  escaped  with  difficulty. 

Belief  did  not  come  until  after  Saul's  death  in  the 
battle  of  Mount  Gilboa.  The  Philistines  mustered  their 
forces  in  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  they  could 
use  chariots  and  horses  to  a  better  advantage,  and 
Saul  rashly  allowed  himself  to  risk  an  engagement. 
1  See  p.  183. 


178  SYEIA   AND    PALESTINE 

His  army  was  defeated  and  pushed  back  upon  Mount 
Gilboa,  where  Jonathan  aud  two  other  sons  fell. 
Finding  that  he  was  wounded,  and  dreading  lest  he 
should  fall  alive  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  he  cast 
himself  upon  his  sword  and  died.  After  this  the 
Philistines  overran  Israel  again,  and  the  situation 
was  as  bad  as  it  had  been  at  the  time  of  Saul's  acces- 
sion. 

Contemporaneous  probably  with  Saul  was  Tiglath- 
pileser  I.  (c.  1023),  the  first  Assyrian  monarch  that 
invaded  Syria.  We  have  seen  already1  how  in  the 
time  of  Amenhotep  IV.  (c.  1400  B.C.)  the  kingdom  of 
Assyria  under  Ashur-uballit  was  beginning  to  be- 
come a  menace  to  Babylon.  Soon  after  the  Amarna 
period  Ashur-uballit  was  strong  enough  to  take  Nin- 
eveh from  Mitanni  and  to  place  one  of  his  grand- 
sons upon  the  throne  of  Babylon.  Bel-nirari  forced 
Kurigalzu  II.  to  submit  to  a  partition  of  Mesopota- 
mia, and  thus  obtained  control  of  the  trade-routes  to 
the  West.  Shalmaneser  I.  (c.  1320)  was  the  first 
Assyrian  king  to  cross  the  Euphrates.  He  invaded 
Mutsri,  north  of  Syria  between  the  Taurus  and  Anti- 
Taurus  ranges,  but  he  did  not  penetrate  Syria  itself. 
Tuklat-Ninib,  the  contemporary  of  Bamessu  II.  (c. 
1300),  conquered  Babylon ;  but  civil  war  broke  out, 
and  he  was  unable  to  profit  by  his  victory.  A  period 
of  decline  set  in,  during  which  Assyria  lost  all  her 
possessions  in  Mesopotamia.  This  continued  until 
1116  B.C.,  when  Ashur-dan  I.  came  to  the  throne, 
under  whom  the  westward  movement  once  more 
began. 

1  See  pp.  66,  102. 


PERIOD    OE    THE     EARLY    HEBREW     KINGS     179 

Tiglath-pileser  I.,  the  great-grandson  of  Ashur-dan 
I.,  during  the  first  five  years  of  his  reign  annexed 
the  whole  of  Northern  Mesopotamia ;  invaded  Muts- 
ri ;  drove  the  Arannean  Akhlami  out  of  Mesopota- 
mia ;  and,  crossing  the  Euphrates  near  Carchemish, 
captured  six  of  their  strongholds.  The  account  of 
these  victories  fills  the  famous  Prism-inscription,1 
which  is  the  earliest  Assyrian  historical  document  of 
any  length  that  has  come  down  to  us.  At  some 
time  subsequent  to  the  writing  of  this  inscription  he 
conquered  the  whole  of  Northern  Syria  as  far  as 
the  Mediterranean.  Unfortunately,  we  have  no  de- 
tailed account  of  this  campaign ;  and  our  only  knowl- 
edge of  it  is  derived  from  a  brief  inscription  carved 
at  the  entrance  of  the  grotto  of  Sebneh-Su  at  the 
head  waters  of  the  Tigris  : 

"In  the  grace  of  Ashur,  Shamash,  and  Ramman,  the  great 
gods,  I,  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria,  son  of  Ashur-resh- 
ishi,  king  of  Assyria,  son  of  Mntakkil-Nusku,  king  of  Assyria, 
conqueror  from  the  Great  Sea  of  Amurru  unto  the  Sea  of  Nairi 
(Lake  Van),  marched  thrice  unto  the  land  of  Nairi." 

This  is  supplemented  by  an  account  of  his  hunting- 
exploits  on  the  so-called  Broken  Obelisk  : 2 

"The  gods  Ninib  and  Nirgal,  who  loved  his  priesthood, 
gave  him  hunting  in  the  open  country.  He  sailed  in  ships  of 
the  land  of  Arvad.  A  nakhiru  (dolphin  ?)  he  killed  in  the 
Great  Sea.  Wild  oxen,  destructive  and  mighty,  he  slew  at 
the  town  of  Araziq,  which  lies  in  front  of  the  land  of  the  Hit- 
tites  ;  and   at   the  foot   of   Lebanon   he  caught  young  wild 

1  Rawlinsou,  i.  9-16;  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  i.,  pp.  14-47; 
Records  of  the  Past,  New  Series,  i.,  pp.  92-121. 
a  Rawlinsou,  i.  28,  lines  1-9,  29-30. 


180  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

cattle  alive,  and  gathered  herds  of  them.  Elephants  he  slew 
■with  his  bow.  Living  elephants  he  caught,  and  brought  to  his 
city  Ashshur.  ...  A  great  pagutu  (hippopotamus  ?)  and 
a  crocodile,  dwellers  in  the  river,  and  creatures  of  the  Great 
Sea  the  king  of  Egypt  caused  to  bring,  and  he  showed  them 
to  the  people  of  his  land. " 

From  these  statements  we  gather  that  Tiglath- 
pileser  reduced  to  submission  the  whole  of  Northern 
Syria  as  far  as  the  Phoenician  city  of  Axvad,  and  that 
news  of  his  victories  spread  to  Egypt  and  induced 
the  Pharaoh  to  send  him  presents.  This  Pharaoh 
must  have  been  one  of  the  Tanitic  monarchs  of  the 
XXIst  dynasty  rather  than  a  Theban  monarch  of  one 
of  the  earlier  dynasties,  who  would  have  been  too  re- 
mote to  enter  into  diplomatic  relations  with  Tiglath- 
pileser  at  Arvad.  Against  the  kingdoms  of  Qadesh 
and  of  Damascus  he  did  not  venture  to  advance; 
and  since  these  acted  as  barriers,  the  rising  kingdom 
of  Israel  was  left  undisturbed.  In  the  later  years  of 
his  reign  he  suffered  reverses  at  the  hand  of  Marduk- 
nadin-akhe,  king  of  Babylon,  which  prevented  follow- 
ing up  his  conquests  in  the  West  and  organizing  there 
a  permanent  administration.  After  his  death  Assyria 
underwent  a  period  of  decline,  during  which  it  lost  all 
its  foreign  possessions ;  and  not  until  after  the  time 
of  Ashur-dan  II.  (c.  940)  did  it  again  revive  and  com- 
mence once  more  its  forward  movement. 

On  receiving  news  of  Saul's  death,  David  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  Hebron  ;  and  was  there  anointed 
king  over  the  tribe  of  Judah.  He  sent  messengers 
to  the  northern  tribes  to  invite  them  to  recognize  him, 
but  they  were  not  ready  for  this  step ;  and  Abner, 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    HEBREW     KINGS     181 

Saul's  commander-in-chief,  took  Ishbaal,1  Saul's  son, 
and  made  him  king  over  the  northern  tribes,  with  his 
capital  at  Mahanaim  east  of  the  Jordan.  Hostilities 
soon  broke  out  between  the  two  kingdoms,  in  which 
success  was  generally  on  the  side  of  David.  Finally 
Aimer  quarrelled  with  Ishbaal,  and  began  negotia- 
tions to  deliver  the  northern  kingdom  over  to  David. 
While  these  were  in  progress,  he  was  killed  by  Joab, 
David's  commander,  in  revenge  for  the  slaughter  of 
his  brother ;  and  presently  Ishbaal  also  was  assassi- 
nated by  two  men  of  Beeroth.  Thereupon  the  elders 
of  Israel  saw  that  it  was  useless  to  prolong  the  tight, 
and  recognized  David  as  king.2 

So  long  as  Israel  and  Judah  were  at  war  with  one 
another,  and  so  long  as  both  were  tributary,  the  Philis- 
tines saw  no  reason  to  interfere ;  but  when  the  He- 
brews were  united  under  so  mighty  a  warrior  as  David, 
the  Philistines  perceived  that  it  was  time  to  bestir 
themselves.  In  their  first  attack  they  were  repulsed, 
but  they  continued  to  harass  Israel  for  many  years  to 
come.3  Finally,  possibly  through  the  interference  of 
Egypt  or  of  Mutsri,4  David  succeeded  in  breaking 
their  power  and  in  capturing  Gath,  their  principal 
city.5  In  his  later  years  we  find  a  force  of  600  men 
of  Gath  in  his  service,6  and  the  Cherethites  and 
Pelethites7  who  formed  his  body-guard  were  also 
Philistines. 

1  The  form  Ishbosheth  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  a  perversion 
of  Ishbaal,  designed  to  avoid  the  name  of  the  heathen  deity  Baal ; 
but  see  Encyclopedia  Biblica,  ii.,  col.  2208. 

-'  2  Sam.  i.  1-v.   3.  a  2  Sam.  v.  17-25. 

4  See  1  Kings  ix.  16.  52  Sam.  viii.  1;   1  Chron.  xviii.  1. 

*  2  Sam.  xv.  18.  7  2  Sam.  viii.  18. 


182  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

David's  hands  were  now  free  for  wars  of  reprisal 
and  of  conquest  against  the  nations  on  the  eastern 
and  the  southern  frontiers.  Moab  was  defeated,  and 
was  treated  with  surprising  severity  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  his  father  and  his  mother  had  found  refuge 
there  at  the  time  of  Saul's  persecution.1  Two-thirds 
of  the  captives  he  put  to  death,  and  the  survivors 
he  placed  under  tribute.2  Presumably  he  extended 
the  territory  of  Israel  as  far  as  the  Arnon,  but  he 
did  not  attempt  to  incorporate  Moab  into  his  king- 
dom. 

With  the  Ammonites  David's  relations  had  been 
friendly  during  the  entire  reign  of  Nahash,  and  iipon 
his  death  he  sent  envoys  to  express  sympathy  with 
his  son  Hanun.  The  young  man,  who  had  seen  the 
treatment  of  Moab,  suspected  that  designs  of  con- 
quest were  concealed  under  this  message  ;  insulted 
the  ambassadors  by  cutting  off  their  beards  and  their 
robes,  and  sent  them  back  to  David.  This  was 
equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war.  The  Ammonites 
did  not  venture  this  time  to  fight  Israel  alone,  but 
hired  troops  to  help  them  from  the  petty  Aramaean 
kingdoms  of  Beth  Rehob,  Zobah,  and  Maacah  that 
lay  between  them  and  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon. 
David  sent  out  an  army  to  meet  them  under  the 
command  of  Joab.  In  order  to  prevent  a  junction  of 
the  allies,  Joab  divided  his  army,  entrusting  the  force 
that  was  to  hold  the  Ammonites  in  check  to  his 
brother  Abishai,  while  he  himself  marched  against 
the  Aramaeans.  Both  divisions  were  successful ;  the 
Aramaeans  fled  back  to  their  own  land,  and  the  Am- 
1  1  Sam,  xxii.  3  f .  *  2  Sam.  viii.  2. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    HEBBEW     KINGS     183 

monites  retired  to  Kabbah,  their  capital.1  The  fol- 
lowing year  Joab  laid  siege  to  this  city ;  and  when  he 
had  brought  matters  so  far  that  it  was  ready  to  fall, 
summoned  David  to  enjoy  the  honour  of  making  the 
capture  himself.  The  prisoners  he  set  at  hard  labour 
with  saws,  picks,  axes,  and  brick-moulds.2  Ammon 
was  made  tributary,  but  it  was  left  under  the  rule  of 
its  native  princes.3 

The  natural  sequel  of  this  victory  was  the  chastis- 
ing of  the  Aramaeans  who  had  dared  to  assist  Ammon. 
Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah,  seems  to  have  held  the 
hegemony  at  this  time  among  the  South  AramaBan 
states.  Summoning  his  allies,  he  placed  them  under 
the  command  of  his  general  Shobach  and  sent  them 
against  David.1  They  were  defeated,  and  consider- 
able treasure  was  taken  out  of  their  cities.5  Upon 
this  Toi,  king  of  Hamath  (not  Hamath  the  Great  on 
the  Orontes,  but  Hamath  of  Zobah 6),  who  had  long 
been  oppressed  by  Hadadezer,  sent  his  son  Hadoram 
(Joram  ?)  to  congratulate  David  and  to  bring  him 
vessels  of  gold,  silver,  and  bronze.7 

According  to  2  Sam.  viii.  6  David  captured  Aram- 
Damascus,  placed  garrisons  there,  and  imposed  trib- 
ute ;  but  this  statement  is  due  to  a  textual  corruption 
of  viii.  14,  where  we  read  that  he  placed  garrisons 
in  Edom  and  imposed  tribute  upon  the  Edomites. 
Misled  by  this  error  and  by  the  supposition  that 
Hamath  was  Hamath  the  Great,  the  exilic  editor  of 

1  2  Sara.  x.  1-14.  2  2  Sam.  xii.  31. 

8  2  Sam.  xvii.  27.  4  2  Sam.  x.  15-19. 

6  2  Sam.  viii  3-5,  7-8.  6  2  Chron    viii.  3. 
,  2  Sain.  viii.  9-11. 


184  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

the  Book  of  Kings  lias  supposed  that  David  con- 
quered the  Aramaeans  as  far  north  as  the  Euphrates. 
According  to  the  older  sources,  however,  his  kingdom 
did  not  extend  beyond  the  "  Entering  in  of  Hamath," 
that  is,  the  descent  from  the  high  land  about  Ijon 
into  the  valley  between  the  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
Lebanon.  In  2  Sam.  xxiv.  6  the  northernmost  point 
reached  by  his  census-takers  is  said  to  have  been 
"the  land  of  Takhtim-khodshi."  The  text  is  obvi- 
ously corrupt,  and  many  commentators  follow  Lucian's 
recension  of  the  LXX.  in  reading  "  the  land  of  the 
Hittites  unto  Qadesh."  But  there  is  no  probability 
that  at  this  time  Qadesh  on  the  Orontes  was  occupied 
by  Hittites  ;  or  that  the  census-gatherers,  whose  aim 
was  merely  to  number  Israel,  should  have  penetrated 
so  far  to  the  north.  Accordingly,  Klostermann  and 
Guthe  are  doubtless  right  in  reading,  "the  land  of 
Naphtali  unto  Qadesh."  Qadesh  Naphtali  is  the 
well-known  home  of  Barak.1  David  ruled  no  far- 
ther than  the  foot  of  Lebanon  and  the  foot  of 
Hermon,  and  the  only  Aramaeans  that  were  tribu- 
tary to  him  were  those  immediately  adjacent  to  his 
frontier. 

In  Edom  his  conquests  were  more  complete  than 
in  any  other  region.  After  a  great  victory  in  the 
Valley  of  Salt,  between  Beersheba  and  the  Dead  Sea, 
Joab  ravaged  Edom  for  six  months,  slaying  every 
male  that  fell  into  his  hands.  Unlike  Moab  and 
Ammon,  it  was  not  allowed  to  retain  its  own  govern- 
ment, but  was  annexed  to  Judah.  Garrisons  were 
placed  in  its  midst,  and  it  did  not  again  regain  its 
1  Jud.  v.  6. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY     HEBREW     KINGS     185 

independence  until  two  hundred  years  later  as  the 
result  of  a  successful  revolt  against  Joram.1 

The  king  of  Edom,  perhaps  Hadad  II.  (Hadar)  of 
Gen.  xxxvi.  39,  but  more  probably  his  successor,  per- 
ished in  the  war,  but  his  little  son  Hadad  was  carried 
off  by  some  of  the  servants  of  his  father  to  Mitsraim 
(Egypt,  according  to  the  received  text,  1  Kings  xi.  17). 
Inasmuch,  however,  as  in  the  next  verse  he  is  said  to 
have  arisen  from  Midian  and  to  have  gone  thence  to 
Egypt  by  way  of  Paran,  it  is  probable  that  Mitsraim 
is  a  corruption  of  Mutsri  (or  Mutsrim),  a  district  of 
North  Arabia  adjacent  to  Midian  and  to  Edom  that 
is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  monuments 
and  in  native  inscriptions.  All  memory  of  this  re- 
gion died  out  among  the  later  Jews,  and  the  result 
was  that  in  every  place  where  Mutsrim  stood  in  the 
ancient  records  Mitsraim  was  read,  thus  confusing 
the  sense  of  a  large  number  of  passages.2  Midian 
had  stood  under  Edomite  rule  since  the  days  of 
Hadad  I.,  and  Hadad  II.  probably  married  a  prin- 
cess of  Mutsri,3  so  that  these  regions  were  natural 
refuges  for  the  young  prince  and  his  adherents. 
When  he  grew  up  and  claimed  his  heritage,  he  be- 
came a  formidable  antagonist  of  Solomon.4 

1  1  Chron.  xviii.  12  f.  (in  the  parallel  passage  2  Sam.  viii.  13  f. 
Edom  has  been  corrupted  into  Aram) ;  1  Kings  xi.  15  f. ;  2  Kings 
viii.  20. 

4  Winckler,  "  Musri,  Meluhha,  Ma'in,"  in  Mitteil.  d.  vorderas. 
Gesellschaft,  1898,  1,  4;  EncyclopcEdia  Biblica,  "Hadad,"  3; 
"  Mizraim,"  2b.  Winckler's  theory  that  the  Hadad  story  has  arisen 
from  the  combination  of  two  independent  narratives  (Alttest.  Un- 
terstichungen,  1892,  pp.  1-0)  does  not  commend  itself  as  probable. 

s  See  pp.  103,  175.  4  See  p.  188. 


136  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

With  the  rich  and  powerful  Phoenicians  David 
wisely  maintained  peace.  In  the  later  years  of  his 
reign,  when  his  campaigns  were  over  and  he  had 
leisure  to  beautify  Jerusalem,  he  concluded  an  ar- 
rangement with  Hiram  L,  king  of  Tyre,  by  which 
he  was  furnished  with  cedar- wood  and  was  sent  car- 
penters and  masons  to  build  him  a  palace  on  Mount 
Zion.1  The  statement  is  interesting  as  showing  that 
the  Phoenicians  had  lost  none  of  the  skill  that  char- 
acterized them  during  the  Amarna  period,  and  that 
the  Israelites  had  not  yet  developed  an  independent 
art.  This  Hiram  son  of  Abibaal  is  the  first  king  in 
the  list  of  Menander,2  and  with  him  the  consecutive 
history  of  Phoenicia  begins.  According  to  the  calcu- 
lations of  Niese  and  Eiihl  he  began  to  reign  in  969 
B.C.,  and  was  thus  a  younger  contemporary  of  David 
and  an  older  contemporary  of  Solomon.  His  reign 
of  thirty-four  years  was  one  of  the  most  glorious  in 
Phoenician  history.  He  enlarged  the  island-fortress 
of  Tyre  by  filling  up  a  shallow,  connected  the  island 
on  which  the  temple  of  the  Tyrian  Baal  was  built  with 
the  main  island,  restored  the  temples  of  the  gods, 
and  reduced  the  people  of  Cyprus  (?)  to  submission. 
To  his  reign  belongs  perhaps  an  archaic  Phoenician 
inscription  on  a  fragment  of  a  bronze  bowl  found  at 
Limassol  in  Cyprus,  which  reads  :  "  The  governor  of 
Qartkhadasht  (Carthage  in  Cyprus),  the  servant  of 
Hiram,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  presents  this  to  Baal 
of  Lebanon,  his  Lord." 3 

David's  later  years  were  troubled  with  rebellions, 

1  2  Sam.  5  :  11  f.  5  See  Josephus,  Cont.  Ap.,  i.  18 

3  Corpus  Inscr.  Sem.,  i.  5;  Lidzbarski,  Handbuch,  ii.  1. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY     IIKKKKW     KINGS     187 

caused  partly  by  the  ambition  of  bis  sons,  and  partly 
by  the  unconquerable  rivalry  between  Judah  and  the 
northern  tribes.  These,  however,  he  succeeded  in 
quelling,  and  left  to  his  successor  a  well  consolidated 
kingdom,  which,  if  not  so  great  as  tradition  has  sup- 
posed, was  at  least  the  chief  state  of  Palestine  and 
was  stronger  than  any  of  the  contemporary  states  of 
Syria. 

David's  death  (c.  960)  was  followed  by  the  revolt  of 
several  of  the  tributary  peoples.  Solomon  was 
obliged  to  make  war  with  the  Aramaeans  on  the 
northeast  frontier,  and  pushed  his  conquests  as  far 
as  Hamath  Zobah,1  whose  king  had  formerly  sent 
presents  to  David.  A  more  formidable  antagonist 
was  Rezon,  king  of  Damascus.2  He  was  a  subject  of 
Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah,  who  fell  into  disfavour  with 
his  lord,  much  as  David  did  with  Saul,  and  who  took 
up  the  life  of  a  freebooter.  Ultimately  he  gained  pos- 
session of  Damascus,  and  founded  there  a  dynasty 
that  was  destined  in  the  next  century  to  inflict  untold 
misery  upon  Israel.  According  to  the  received  text, 
this  event  took  place  during  the  lifetime  of  David ; 
but  the  absence  of  the  words,  "  when  David  slew 
them "  from  one  recension  of  the  LXX.  raises  the 
suspicion  that  these  words  are  a  gloss.  By  many 
Rezon  is  identified  with  Hezion,  the  father  of  Tab- 
rimnion,  the  father  of  Benhadad,3  but  others  doubt 
this  identification.  Winckler  holds  that  Hezion  is  a 
corruption  of  Hazael,  who  then  must  be  regarded  as 
the  successor  of  Rezon. 

Beyond  this  brief  notice  we  know  nothing  of  the 
1  2  Chron.  viii.  3.         2  1  Kings  viii.  23-25.         3  1  Kings  it.  18. 


18S  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

growth  of  the  Damascene  kingdom.  In  the  next 
generation  it  stood  out  conspicuously  as  the  head 
of  the  Aramaean  confederacy,  and  for  more  than  a 
century  it  was  able  to  thwart  the  political  ambition 
of  Assyria.  This  eminence  it  owed,  partly  to  its 
magnificent  strategic  position  in  a  fertile  plain  at 
the  intersection  of  several  of  the  great  trade-routes 
of  Western  Asia,  and  partly  to  the  genius  of  Rezon, 
who  freed  it  from  the  control  of  Zobah. 

Another  foe  of  Solomon  during  the  early  years  of 
his  reign  was  the  young  prince  Hadad  III.,  who  had 
escaped  from  Edom  to  Mutsri  at  the  time  of  David's 
conquest.1  He  was  now  grown  up  ;  and,  hoping  to 
recover  his  birthright,  had  gone  down  to  Egypt  and  had 
sought  the  favour  of  the  Pharaoh,  presumably  Psu- 
kha'emne  II. ,  who  had  received  him  kindly  and  had 
given  him  his  sister-in-law  as  a  wife.2  So  soon  as  he 
heard  of  David's  death,  he  obtained  permission  to 
return  to  his  native  land  and  to  lay  claim  to  the 
throne  of  his  fathers.3  In  this  attempt  he  was 
doubtless  seconded  by  Egypt,  which  was  becoming 
jealous  of  the  growing  power  of  the  new  Palestinian 
kingdom. 

He  seems  to  have  been  unsuccessful,  for  Solomon 
retained  possession  of  the  port  of  Ezion-geber  on  the 
Elanitic  Gulf  in  the  land  of  Edom,  which  he  used  in 
his  later  naval  enterprises. 

Finding  that  Solomon  was  not  to  be  overcome,  the 

1  See  p.  185. 

2  It  is  hardly  probable  that  we  should  read  Pir'u,  king  of  Mutsri, 
instead  of  Pharaoh,  king  of  Mitsraim.     See  pp.  243,  246. 

3  1  Kings  xi.  14-22. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    HEBREW     KINGS     189 

Pharaoh  determined  to  make  peace  with  him,  and 
bestowed  upon  him  one  of  his  daughters  in  marriage. 
At  this  time  occurred  the  first  intervention  of  Egypt 
in  the  affairs  of  Palestine  of  which  we  have  any  rec- 
ord since  the  days  of  Ramessu  III.  The  city  of 
Gezer  (Tell  Jezer),  a  strong  natural  fortress  in  the 
North  Shephelah,  which  had  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  Oanaanites  down  to  this  late  date,  was  capt- 
ured by  the  Pharaoh,  and  was  given  to  Solomon  as  ;i 
dowry.1  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  suppose  with  Mul- 
ler  a  that  Philistia  must  first  have  been  conquered  by 
the  Pharaoh  before  he  could  take  possession  of  Gezer. 
That  land  had  been  subdued  already  by  David, 
and  Solomon  would  oppose  no  obstacle  to  passing 
through  it,  if  the  aim  were  to  assist  in  reducing  a 
troublesome  Canaanitish  stronghold.  In  return  for 
this  service  he  must  have  given  an  equivalent.  It  is 
not  likely  that  he  paid  tribute,  or  in  any  way  ac- 
knowledged the  Pharaoh  as  his  suzerain  ;  more  prob- 
ably he  entered  into  an  agreement  to  keep  open  the 
roads  between  Mesopotamia  and  Phoenicia  and  Egypt. 
Gezer  had  been  a  constant  menace  to  the  caravan- 
traffic,  and  this  was  probably  the  reason  why  the 
Pharaoh  was  anxious  that  it  should  come  into  the 
hands  of  his  ally. 

Peace  having  been  established  with  the  neighbour- 
ing nations,  Solomon  was  able  to  carry  out  his  cher- 
ished ambition  of  erecting  costly  buildings.  At  the 
beginning  of  his  reign  he  entered  into  negotiations 
with  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  to  supply  him  with  wood 
and  with   workmen.     On  a  slight  elevation  to   the 

1  1  Kings  ix.  16.  2  Asien  mid  Europa,  p.  390. 


190  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

north  of  David's  old  citadel  he  established  a  new 
residence,  which  he  probably  connected  with  the  old 
one  by  a  bridge  over  the  narrow  valley.  There  he 
built  the  House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon,  the  Porch 
of  Pillars,  the  Porch  of  the  Throne,  the  House  of 
Pharaoh's  Daughter,  and  the  Temple.  To  pay  for 
these  colossal  undertakings  he  used  the  treasures  that 
his  father  had  accumulated,  and  turned  over  to  Hiram 
a  portion  of  his  annual  revenue  in  grain  and  oil. 
When  this  did  not  suffice,  he  ceded  twenty  towns  in 
the  land  of  Cabul  on  the  Phoenician  frontier.1 

As  an  offset  to  his  expenditures  he  attempted  to 
increase  his  income  by  commercial  enterprises.  Con- 
trolling, as  he  did,  all  the  caravan-routes  between 
Egypt  and  Asia,  he  was  able  to  play  the  part  of  mid- 
dleman and  to  collect  a  profit  on  every  article  that 
passed  through  his  hands.  It  is  expressly  stated  that 
he  carried  on  a  large  business  in  providing  horses  and 
chariots  for  the  Hittite  and  Aramaean  kings.2  With 
the  help  of  the  Tyrians  he  built  and  manned  a  fleet  of 
vessels  at  Ezion-geber  on  the  Elanitic  arm  of  the  Bed 
Sea  in  the  land  of  Edom.  This  fleet  went  to  South 
Arabia,  whence  it  brought  back  gold  and  the  products 
of  the  flourishing  Minsean  and  Sabaean  civilizations. 
It  is  even  recorded  that  the  Queen  of  Sheba  (Sabaea) 
paid  Solomon  a  visit  at  Jerusalem.  In  the  Mediter- 
ranean also  he  had  a  fleet,  which  sailed  presumably 
from  Dor,  and  went  as  far  as  Tartessus  in  Spain.3 

These  expeditions  brought  in  great  wealth,  but  not 
sufficient  to  meet  the  cost  of  his  buildings,  or  to  main- 

1  1  Kings  v.  8-11  ;  ix.  11-13.  2  1  Kings  x.  27-29. 

3  1  Kings  ix.  26  ;  x.  25. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    HEBREW     KINGS     191 

tain  the  state  in  which  he  lived.  Consequently,  as  a 
last  resort,  he  was  compelled  to  increase  the  taxes. 
Through  this  measure  he  alienated  the  loyalty  of  the 
people,  particularly  those  of  the  northern  tribes.  In- 
cited by  the  prophet  Ahijah  of  Shiloh,  Jeroboam,  the 
overseer  of  the  house  of  Joseph,  started  a  revolution, 
and  attempted  to  hold  the  fortress  of  Zeredah.  Fail- 
ing in  this,  he  fled  to  Egypt  and  found  refuge  with 
Shishak  I.,  the  founder  of  the  XXIId,  or  Libyan 
dynasty,  who  came  to  the  throne  about  940  B.C.1 

So  soon  as  he  heard  of  Solomon's  death,  Jeroboam 
returned  aud  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  discon- 
tented. Shechem  was  the  centre  of  their  operations, 
and  thither  assembled  the  representatives  of  all  the 
northern  tribes.  Rehoboam  also  came  up  from  Jeru- 
salem to  persuade  the  elders  to  submit  to  his  rule. 
The  condition  demanded  by  them  was  that  he  should 
reduce  the  burdens  of  taxation  and  of  enforced  labour. 
His  older  counsellors  urged  him  to  accede  to  this 
reasonable  request,  but  the  men  of  his  own  genera- 
tion advised  him  to  beat  the  people  into  submission. 
Rehoboam  took  the  advice  of  the  latter,  and  answered  : 
"  My  father  made  your  yoke  heavy,  but  I  will  add  to 
your  yoke  :  my  father  chastised  you  with  whips,  but 
I  will  chastise  you  with  scorpions."  On  hearing  this, 
the  northern  tribes  at  once  revolted,  and  made  Jero- 
boam king  (c.  931).  Rehoboam  had  difficulty  in  es- 
caping to  Jerusalem,  and  Adoniram  (Adoram),  his 
tax-gatherer,  was  stoned  to  death.2 

Thus  the  life-work  of  David  was  destroyed  at  a 
single  blow.  Israel  wras  divided  into  two  petty  king- 
1 1  Kings  xi.  2G-40.  2  1  Kings  xii. 


192  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

clouis,  neither  of  which  was  strong  enough  to  resist 
the  attacks  of  its  neighbours.  Juclah  alone  continued 
loyal  to  Eehoboain,  together  with  a  few  towns  of 
Benjamin  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Jerusalem. 
Moab  and  Amnion  fell  to  the  share  of  Jeroboam,  but 
seem  not  to  have  been  long  retained  by  him,  since 
Omri  was  obliged  to  reconquer  them.1  Edom  re- 
mained a  dependency  of  Eehoboam.2  The  northern 
kingdom  was  by  far  the  richer  and  stronger  of  the 
two ;  it  therefore  retained  the  old  national  name  of 
Israel,  leaving  for  the  other  kingdom  only  the  tribal 
name  of  Judah. 

War  between  the  two  monarchs  was  inevitable, 
since  Eehoboam  could  not  see  his  heritage  wrested 
from  him  without  an  effort  to  recover  it.  He  had 
the  advantage  of  a  standing  army  and  of  the  wealth 
accumulated  in  Jerusalem,  but  he  did  not  succeed  in 
subduing  his  rival.  He  was  obliged  to  content  him- 
self with  the  erection  of  a  line  of  fortresses  and  the 
maintenance  of  ceaseless  border-warfare.3 

In  the  fifth  year  of  Eehoboam  (c.  926),  according 
to  1  Kings  xiv.  25,  Shishak  (Sheshonq)  I.,  king  of 
Egypt,  invaded  Palestine.  He  was  the  descendant  of 
a  line  of  Libyan  generals  that  had  gradually  grown  so 
powerful  that  it  was  able  to  overthrow  the  Tanite 
kings  and  to  seat  one  of  its  members  on  the  throne. 
With  him  began  the  XXIId  dynasty,  which  lasted  for 
over  200  years.  He  was  an  energetic  monarch,  who 
was  filled  with  the  ambition  to  reconquer  the  prov- 
inces that  Egypt  had  lost  200  years  before.     So  long 

1  See  p.  202.  *  Cf.  1  Kings  xxii.  47. 

3  2  Chron.  xi.  5-12;   1  Kings  xiv.  30  ;  xv.  6. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    HEBREW    KINGS     193 

as  Solomon  lived  and  Israel  was  united,  lie  did  not 
venture  to  attack  ;  but  when  the  kingdom  was  rent  in 
twain,  he  deemed  that  a  favourable  opportunity  had 
come  to  carry  out  his  designs.  Invading  Palestine, 
he  captured  Jerusalem,  and  carried  off  the  treasures 
of  the  temple  and  of  the  palace,  including  the  golden 
shields  that  Solomon  had  made  for  his  body-guard.1 

The  record  of  this  campaign  he  engraved  upon  the 
south  wall  of  the  temple  of  Karnak,  near  the  inscrip- 
tion of  Ramessu  II.2  It  depicts  133  Asiatics  with 
ropes  about  their  necks,  bearing  shields  on  which  are 
inscribed  the  names  of  captured  towns.  Among 
these  may  be  identified  with  certainty  Gazzatu  (Gaza), 
Tanaka  (Taanach),  Shanama  (Shunem),  Ruhaba  (Re- 
hob),  Haparuma  (Hapharaim),  Mahanaima  (Maha- 
naim),  Qeba'ana  (Gibeon),  Bitihuarun  (Bethhoron), 
Aiyalun  (Ajalon),  Maketa  (Megiddo),  Yaudhamaruk 
(according  to  Champollion  and  Rosellini,  Judah- 
melek ;  according  to  Brugsch  and  Maspero,  Jehud- 
ha-melek ;  according  to  Muller  and  Renouf,  Yad- 
ha-melek),  Aluna  (Elyon,  see  p.  79),  Biti-'Aniti 
(Beth-Anath).  Nearly  all  these  places  are  in  the 
northern  kingdom.  This  makes  it  plain  that  Shishak 
could  not  have  come  up  to  help  Jeroboam  against 
Rehoboam,  as  one  might  infer  from  the  Biblical  nar- 
rative, which  speaks  only  of  an  attack  upon  Jerusa- 
lem. 

This  was  a  mere  plundering  expedition  of  the  an- 
cient type  in  which  both  kingdoms   suffered.     The 

1 1  Kings  xiv.  25-28. 

2  Maspero,  Transactions  of  the  Victoria  Institute,  xxvii.,  pp.  63- 
122  ;  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  pp.  166-169. 


^94  SYRIA   AND   PALESTINE 

scanty  Biblical  account  mentions  only  the  misfortune 
of  Judah,  while  the  Egyptian  monument  is  mutilated 
in  the  portion  that  probably  contained  the  list  of 
Judeean  towns.  The  last  name  of  the  list,  Yaura 
.  .  .  Maspero  restores  to  Yaurashalama  (Jerusa- 
lem). The  smallness  of  Shishak's  conquests,  in  con- 
trast with  those  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty,  is  striking  ;  the  northernmost  town  that  he 
mentions  does  not  lie  beyond  the  Plain  of  Jezreel. 
The  Phoenician  cities  and  all  Syria  were  left  undis- 
turbed. To  make  up  for  this,  he  enumerated  every 
obscure  village  that  he  visited,  and  so  succeeded  in 
making  his  list  as  long  at  least  as  those  of  his  great 
predecessors. 

Abijah,  the  son  of  Kehoboam  (915),  maintained  his 
father's  quarrel  with  Jeroboam,1  but  apparently  with 
less  success.  In  the  long  run  the  greater  wealth  and 
the  larger  population  of  the  northern  kingdom  were 
sure  to  count,  and  besides  Judah  suffered  more  heav- 
ily than  Israel  at  the  hands  of  Shishak.  According 
to  1  Kings  xv.  19,  Abijah  sought  the  aid  of  Tabrim- 
mon  (Tab-Eamman),  king  of  Damascus,  and  bribed 
him  to  attack  Jeroboam  from  the  north.  The  Ara- 
maean king  was  glad  of  an  excuse  to  make  war,  since 
Israel  controlled  the  best  caravan-route  between  Da- 
mascus and  the  sea  ;  in  fact,  it  was  the  effort  to  secure 
this  route  which  led  to  the  constant  warfare  between 
Syria  and  Israel  from  the  days  of  Solomon  onward. 
Abijah  thus  obtained  relief ;  and  attacking  Jeroboam 
in  the  rear,  while  he  was  busy  with  the  Syrians,  in- 
flicted a  severe  defeat  upon  him  and  annexed  the 

1  1  Kings  xt.  7b. 


PERIOD    OF    THE     EARLY     HEBREW    KINGS     195 

cities  of  Bethel,  Jeshanah,  and  Epliron.1  As  a  result 
"  Abijah  waxed  mighty,  and  took  unto  himself  four- 
teen wives,  and  begat  twenty  and  two  sons  and  six- 
teen daughters." 2  In  spite  of  temporary  success, 
however,  the  appeal  to  Damascus  was  a  short-sighted 
policy.  By  weakening  Israel  Abijah  destroyed  the 
only  barrier  between  his  kingdom  and  Syria.  His 
descendants  had  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  mistake. 

About  913  Asa  came  to  the  throne  of  Judah,  and  two 
years  later  Nadab  succeeded  Jeroboam  in  Israel  (911). 
Nadab  did  not  reign  long,  for  his  father's  reverses 
had  made  his  dynasty  unpopular.  In  the  following 
year  Baasha,  the  Issacharite,  slew  him  as  he  was 
besieging  the  Philistine  city  of  Gibbethon,  and  made 
himself  king.  Baasha  came  to  terms  with  Ben- 
hadad 3  (Bir-hidri)  I.,  who  in  the  meantime  (c.  900) 
had  succeeded  Tabrimmon  in  the  sovereignty  of 
Damascus ;  and  thus  was  able  to  renew  the  struggle 
with  Judah.'1  By  building  the  fortress  of  Rarnalr  he 
shut  off  trade  with  the  North  and  reduced  Asa  to 
great  straits.  Finding  that  he  could  not  dislodge  him, 
Asa  gathered  the  treasure  that  was  left  in  Jerusalem 

1  2  Chron.  xiii.  2-20.  s  2  Chron.  xiii.  21. 

8  In  Assyrian  the  name  is  written  IM-idri.  IM  is  the  ideogram 
for  the  god  Ramman,  who  is  supposed  by  many  to  be  identical  with 
the  Canaanitish  Hadad ;  hence  they  read  the  name  Hadad-'idri,  and 
regard  it  as  the  equivalent  of  Hadadezer.  But  IM  has  also  the 
value  bir  or  bur,  and  it  is  more  natural  to  choose  this,  and  to  read 
Bir-'idri,  i.e.,  "Bir  is  my  glory."  In  that  case  Ben-hadad  has 
arisen  by  confusion  of  Bir  with  bar,  Hebrew  ben  "  son,"  and  of 
hidri  with  Hadad.  Instead  of  Ben-hadad  a  more  accurate  form 
of  the  name,  accordingly,  is  probably  Bir-hidri.  See  Winckler, 
Alttest.  Untersuchungen,  pp.  68  ff. 

4  1  Kings  xv.  19. 


196  SYRIA    AND   PALESTINE 

and  sent  it  to  Benliaclad,  begging  him  to  break  his 
treaty  with  Baasha.  Benhadad  perfidiously  con- 
sented, and  invaded  the  northern  kingdom ;  where- 
upon Baasha  was  obliged  to  abandon  Raman.  Asa 
then  went  up  with  his  army,  removed  the  wood  and 
the  stone,  and  with  them  rebuilt  Geba  of  Benjamin 
as  a  border-fortress  against  Israel.1  He  thus  ad- 
vanced the  frontier,  but  not  so  far  as  his  father  had 
done.  Whether  Benhadad  at  this  time  reduced 
Baasha  to  subjection  we  do  not  know.  Between 
Judah  and  Israel  war  continued  to  drag  on  for  many 
years.2  At  some  time  in  the  reign  of  Asa  2  Chron.  xiv. 
9-15  places  an  invasion  of  Judah  by  Zerah,  the  Cush- 
ite.  In  2  Chron.  xvi.  8  the  Cushites  are  said  to  have 
been  accompanied  by  Lubini  or  Libyans,  and  this  has 
led  to  the  hypothesis  that  Zerah  was  a  Nubian  who 
usurped  the  throne  of  Egypt,  and  that  he  is  to  be 
identified  either  with  Osorkon  I.  or  with  Osorkon  II., 
the  successors  of  Shishak.  Sayce 3  decides  for  Osor- 
kon II.  and  appeals  to  an  inscription  found  by  Na- 
ville  at  Bubastis  in  which  this  king  states  that 
"  Upper  and  Lower  Ruten  are  cast  under  his  feet." 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  the  Libyans  do 
not  occur  in  the  main  narrative  of  Zerah's  campaign, 
but  only  in  a  speech  composed  by  the  Chronicler 
himself.  They  show  that  he  identified  Cush  with 
Nubia,  but  do  not  prove  that  this  was  the  view  of 
the  documents  on  which  he  based  his  history.  There 
is  nothing  to  indicate  that  a  change  of  dynasty 
occurred  after  Shishak,  and   he  was  not   a  Nubian 

1  1  Kings  xv.  17-32.  '2 1  Kings  xv.  16. 

3  Higher  Criticism  and  the  Monuments,  p.  363. 


PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    HEBREW     KINGS     197 

but  a  Libyan.  Moreover,  the  name  Osorkon  has  no 
affinity  with  Zerah,  and  the  claim  to  have  subdued 
Upper  and  Lower  Buten  is  a  boast  that  is  unsub- 
stantiated by  other  evidence.  Accordingly,  the  ten- 
dency among  critics  of  late  has  been  to  deny  the 
possibility  of  a  Nubian  invasion  in  the  reign  of  Asa, 
and  to  regard  this  narrative  as  a  dogmatic  inven- 
tion of  the  Chronicler. 

Another  explanation  of  the  passage  is,  however, 
possible.  2  Chron.  xxi.  16  mentions  Arabians  who 
dwell  beside  the  Cushites,  and  numerous  other  pas- 
sages of  the  Old  Testament  imply  the  existence  of 
an  Arabian  Cush  as  well  as  of  a  Nubian.1  This  land 
has  also  been  found  in  the  Assyrian  monuments.* 
In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  probable  that  we  have 
to  do  here  with  an  invasion  of  Judah  by  a  South 
Arabian  monarch.  From  what  we  know  through  re- 
cent discoveries  in  Arabia  of  the  glory  of  the  Min- 
aean  kingdom  during  this  period  it  does  not  seem 
improbable  that  one  of  its  rulers  should  have  under- 
taken an  invasion  of  Palestine.3 

During  the  lifetime  of  Asa,  Baasha  died  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Elah(886).  The  following  year, 
while  carousing  with  his  chamberlain  Arza  in  Tirzah, 
the  capital,  he  was  assassinated  by  Zimri,  the  com- 
mander  of  half  his  chariots.  Zimri  slew  the  family 
of  Baasha,  and  seated  himself  on  the  throne ;  but 
the  army,  which  was  besieging  the  Philistine  strong- 
hold of   Gibbethon,  refused   to  recognize  him,    and 

1  Encyclopedia  Biblica,  "  Cush,"  2. 

'^Winckler,  Mitieilnngen  d.  vorderas.  Gesell.,  1898,  4. 

3  Ibid.,  1,  p.  47;  Hommel,  in  Hilprecht,  Recent  Research,  p.  155. 


198  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

proclaimed  Omri,  its  commander,  king.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  Tirzah,  upon  which  Zimri  set 
fire  to  the  royal  palace  and  perished  in  the  flames. 
Omri  then  reigned,  and  became  the  founder  of  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  dynasties  in  Hebrew  history. 


CHAPTEK  XI 

THE  ADVANCE   OF  ASSYRIA 
885-745  b.c. 

In  885  B.C.,  probably  the  same  year  in  which 
Omri  usurped  the  throne  of  Israel,  Ashur-natsir-pal 
III.  began  to  reign.  For  more  than  100  years 
Assyria  had  been  feeble.  Aramaean  hordes  had 
seized  the  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  Euphrates,  and 
had  cut  Nineveh  off  from  communication  with  the 
Mediterranean.  The  successors  of  Tiglath-pileser  I. 
were  engaged  in  constant  warfare  with  these  barba- 
rians, and  were  unable  to  maintain  his  conquests  in 
the  West.  Not  until  the  time  of  Ashurnatsirpal  did 
Assyria  once  more  rouse  herself,  and  begin  a  career 
of  conquest  that  was  never  long  interrupted  until 
after  the  death  of  Ashurbanipal  in  626  B.C.  With 
Ashurnatsirpal,  accordingly,  there  opened  a  new 
period  in  the  history  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  Here 
for  the  first  time  the  Eponym  Canon  affords  the  pos- 
sibility of  an  exact  chronology.1 

From  885  to  879  B.C.  Ashurnatsirpal  was  occu- 
pied in  reducing  to  submission  the  tribes  on  the  bor- 
der of  his  kingdom,  but  in  878  he  began  to  push 

i  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  i.,  pp.  204-215. 
199 


200  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

westward.1  The  powerful  Aramaean  kingdom  of  Bit- 
Adini,  which  occupied  the  place  of  the  old  kingdom  of 
Mitanni  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  Balikh,  and 
which  had  supported  the  smaller  Aramaean  states 
along  the  Khabur  and  lower  Euphrates  in  hostility 
to  Assyria,  was  invaded  and  its  king  Akhuni  was 
compelled  to  pay  tribute.  The  following  year  (877) 
Akhuni  was  again  defeated  ;  and  taking  fright  at 
the  nearness  of  Ashurnatsirpal,  a  number  of  princes 
beyond  the  Euphrates  sent  their  presents. 

In  876,  for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  Tiglath- 
pileser  I.,  the  Euphrates  was  crossed.  Carchemish, 
the  capital  of  a  Hittite  kingdom  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  river,  surrendered,  and  its  king  Sangara  2  gave 
hostages  and  paid  a  heavy  tribute.  West  of  Carchem- 
ish lay  the  kingdom  of  Patin,  which  reached  almost 
to  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean.  Its  first  city  was 
Khazazi  ('Azaz),  which  yielded  a  rich  plunder  of 
gold  and  embroidered  garments.  Thence  Ashurna- 
tsirpal crossed  the  river  Apri  (Afrin)  into  the  district 
of  TJnqi  ('Amq),  where  lay  Kunalua,  the  capital  of 
Lubarna,  king  of  Patin.  Here  also  an  enormous  spoil 
was  taken,  and  Lubarna  was  compelled  to  join  his 
forces  to  the  army  of  his  conqueror.  Turning  south- 
westward  and  crossing  the  Orontes,  Ashurnatsirpal 
reached  the  city  of  Aribua,  which  belonged  to  the 
kingdom  of  Patin,  and  established  there  a  permanent 

1  Our  main  source  for  the  history  of  Ashurnatsirpal  is  the  An- 
nals, translated  by  Sayce  in  Records  of  the  Past,  JVew  Series,  ii. , 
pp.  12S-177,  and  by  Peiser,  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  i.,  pp. 
50-122. 

2  Compare  Shamgar  in  Jud.  v.  6 ;  see  p.  158. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  201 

Assyrian  garrison  and  store-house  for  provisions. 
Thence  he  marched  to  the  coast,  where  he  cleansed 
his  arms  in  the  "  Great  Sea  of  the  land  of  the  Amo- 
rites,"  and  advanced  southward  along  the  coast  as  far 
as  the  Nahr-el-Kelb,  where  he  set  up  a  monument 
beside  those  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Egypt.1  Here 
he  received  the  tribute  of  Tyre,  Sidon,  Gebal,  Arvad, 
the  Amorites,  and  other  districts  which  dreaded  his 
advance  and  sought  thus  to  buy  him  off.  On  the  way 
back  he  despatched  a  plundering  expedition  into 
Cilicia,  and  felled  cedars  and  cypresses  in  Mount 
Amanus  for  his  buildings  at  Nineveh.2  As  a  result 
of  this  campaign  the  whole  of  Northern  Syria  lay  at 
his  feet,  and  the  trade-route  to  the  Mediterranean 
was  once  more  open.  With  Arpad,  Hamath,  and 
Damascus  he  did  not  venture  to  fight.  That  task 
remained  for  his  successor,  Shalmaneser  II. 

Unlike  Tiglath-pileser  I.,  who  was  content  with 
plundering  expeditions,  Ashnrnatsirpal  attempted  to 
keep  a  permanent  hold  upon  his  conquests.  The 
kings  who  submitted  were  reinstated,  were  assigned 
an  annual  tribute,  and  were  required  to  give  their 
children  as  hostages.  Those  who  refused  to  submit 
were  deposed,  and  other  members  of  the  native  royal 
families  were  put  in  their  places.  If  states  rebelled, 
they  were  reconquered  and  their  tribute  was  increased. 
If  they  repeated  the  offence,  their  autonomy  was 
taken  from  them,  and  they  were  incorporated  into 
the  Assyrian  empire.  If  they  again  revolted,  they 
were  wasted  with  fire  and  sword  and  their  people 

1  See  p.  127. 

'  Annals,  iii.  51-92:    Keilinschr.  Bibhothek,  i.  102-111. 


202  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

were  enslaved.  At  strategic  points  throughout  the 
conquered  territory  strongholds  were  garrisoned  with 
Assyrian  troops,  in  which  grain  was  stored,  and 
through  which  tribute  was  collected.  This  method 
of  governing  differed  little  from  that  adopted  by  the 
Egyptian  conqueror  Tahutimes  III.  Six  hundred 
years  had  brought  practically  no  change  in  the  politi- 
cal administration  of  the  Orient.  Whether  Syria 
were  under  the  rule  of  Egypt,  or  under  the  rule  of 
Assyria,  its  lot  was  equally  miserable. 

While  Ashurnatsirpal  was  conquering  Northern 
Syria,  Omri  was  busy  establishing  his  authority  over 
Israel.  In  885  he  defeated  Zimri.  Four  years  later 
he  overthrew  Tibni,  a  rival  claimant  of  the  throne. 
He  then  formed  an  alliance  with  Ethbaal  (Eithobalos), 
the  eighth  king  of  Menander's  list,  who  came  to  the 
throne  of  Tyre  in  887.  Jezebel,  the  daughter  of  this 
king,  he  took  as  wife  for  his  son,  acknowledging  thus 
the  controlling  influence  of  Phoenicia  in  Israelitish 
politics.1  Both  kings  were  anxious  to  resist  the  en- 
croachments of  the  Arameeans,  and  to  keep  control 
of  the  trade-routes  that  led  to  the  Mediterranean,  and 
in  the  partnership  it  was  natural  that  Ethbaal  should 
take  the  lead.  The  little  that  we  know  about  him 
shows  that  he  was  a  powerful  monarch  who  founded 
new  cities  in  Phoenicia  and  new  colonies  in  Africa. 

After  this  alliance  Omri  felt  himself  strong  enough 
to  attack  Moab,  which  since  the  division  of  Israel 
had  probably  been  independent.  According  to  the 
Mesha  Inscription,  which  is  our  only  source  of  infor- 
mation, "  Omri  was  king  over  Israel,  and  he  afflicted 

1  1  Kings  xvi.  15-31. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  203 

Moab  many  clays,  because  Cheniosh  was  angry  with 
his  land  .  .  .  and  Omri  took  possession  of  the 
land  of  Medeba.  .  .  .  And  the  king  of  Israel 
built  for  himself  Ataroth.  .  .  .  And  the  king  of 
Israel  built  Jahaz,  and  abode  in  it  while  he  fought 
against  me."  '  The  southernmost  cities  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  Moabites,  but  Chemosh-melek,  their 
king,  was  compelled  to  pay  tribute  to  Omri,  presum- 
ably the  same  tribute  that  his  son  Mesha  paid  later  to 
Ahab,  100,000  rams  and  the  wool  of  100,000  lambs.2 

In  his  seventh  year,  finding  that  Tirzah  could  not 
be  properly  defended,  Omri  abandoned  it  and  chose 
as  a  new  capital  the  fortress  of  Samaria.  With  the 
spoil  of  his  Moabite  campaign,  presumably,  he  bought 
the  site ;  and  rebuilt  the  town  in  approved  military 
style.3 

Against  the  Aramaeans  he  fought  with  little  suc- 
cess. According  to  1  Kings  xx.  34,  Benhadad  I. 
took  cities  from  him,  and  obtained  the  right  to  estab- 
lish a  quarter  for  his  merchants  in  Samaria.  Damas- 
cus thus  secured  the  route  to  the  Mediterranean,  for 
which  it  had  fought  since  the  days  of  Solomon. 
With  Asa  of  Judah,  who  outlived  six  kings  of  Israel, 
Omri  seems  to  have  kept  the  peace,  at  least  no  con- 
flicts are  recorded  in  Kings  or  in  Chronicles;  and 
according  to  2  Chron.  xvii.  2,  Jehoshaphat  at  the  be- 
ginning of  his  reign  still  retained  possession  of  the 
cities  in  Ephraim  that  his  father  had  captured. 

Omri  was  a  military  genius  and  political  organizer 

1  Mesha  Inscription,  lines  7-10;  see  p.  216;  cf.  2  Kings  i.  1; 
iii.  l>. 

8  2  Kings  iii.  i.  3  1  Kings  xvi.  24. 


204  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

of  the  first  rank,  and  lie  brought  the  northern  king- 
dom to  a  position  of  influence  such  as  it  never 
enjoyed  before.  The  fame  of  his  power  spread  as 
far  as  Assyria,  where  Israel  received  the  names  of 
Mat-Khumri  or  Bit-Khumri,  "  the  Land,  or  House  of 
Omri."  At  a  later  date,  under  Rammannirari  III. 
and  Tiglath-pileser  III.,  it  continued  to  bear  these 
names;  and,  even  after  his  dynasty  had  fallen,  its 
kings  were  still  known  as  "  sons  of  Omri." 

In  874  Ahab  succeeded  Omri  upon  the  throne  of 
Israel,  and  the  following  year  Jehoshaphat  succeeded 
Asa  as  king  of  Judah.  About  the  same  time  Ben- 
hadad  II.,  who  on  account  of  1  Kings  xx.  34  must 
not  be  identified  with  Benhadad  I.,  began  to  reign 
over  Damascus.  Ahab's  first  effort  was  to  break  the 
power  of  Judah.  1  Kings  xvi.  34  records  that  in  his 
day  a  certain  Hiel  (LXX.  Ahiel  =  Ahab?)  fortified 
Jericho,  sacrificing  to  the  local  Baal  his  first-born 
when  he  laid  the  foundation,  and  another  son  when 
he  set  up  the  gates.1  This  event  marks  an  encroach- 
ment upon  Judaean  territory,  and  a  determination  to 
close  the  roads  to  its  trade.  According  to  2  Chron. 
xvii.  1  f.  Jehoshaphat  was  obliged  to  strengthen 
himself  against  Israel,  and  to  place  garrisons  in  all 
the  walled  cities  of  his  land.  Before  long  he  must 
have  been  worsted,  although  this  is  not  recorded  in 
either  Kings  or  Chronicles,  since  in  1  Kings  xxii.  and 
2  Kings  iii.  he  appears  as  a  vassal  in  the  army  of  the 
king  of  Israel.  The  marriage  of  Jehoshaphat's  son 
Jehoram  to  Athaliah,  the  daughter  of  Jezebel,2  which 

1  See  Winckler,  Gesch.  Is?:,  i.,  p.  163,  n.  3. 
8  1  Kings  xxii.  44;  2  Kings  viii.  18,  26. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  205 

must  have  occurred  about  805,  indicates  also  a  con- 
trolling influence  of  Israel  in  the  politics  of  Judah. 
From  this  time  onward,  down  to  the  reign  of  Uzziah, 
Judah  was  a  subject-state  that  held  much  the  same 
relation  to  Israel  as  did  Moab.  It  was  permitted  to 
retain  its  autonomy,  but  it  was  obliged  to  pay  tribute 
and  to  furnish  a  contingent  of  troops.  In  none  of 
the  annals  of  the  Assyrian  kings  of  this  period  is  it 
named,  doubtless  because  it  was  regarded  as  nothing 
more  than  an  appendage  of  Israel.  The  drought  in 
the  reign  of  Ahab  recorded  in  1  Kings  xvii.  is  plausi- 
bly identified  with  the  drought  mentioned  in  the 
annals  of  Tyre  as  occurring  during  the  reign  of 
Ethbaal.' 

Between  876  and  the  year  of  his  death,  Ashurna- 
tsirpal  undertook  no  new  expeditions  into  Northern 
Syria.  His  authority  seems  to  have  remained  un- 
questioned, and  his  tribute  to  have  been  paid  regu- 
larly ;  but  when  in  860  his  son  Shalmaneser  II.  came 
to  the  throne,  there  was  the  usual  outbreak  that  in 
the  ancient  Orient  always  attended  a  change  of  rul- 
ers.2 In  his  coronation  year  Shalmaneser  established 
his   authority   in  Armenia,  and   in   859  he  took  up 

1  Josephus,  Antiq.,  viii.  13,  2. 

2  Our  sources  for  the  history  of  Shalmaneser  are  (1)  The  Black 
Obelisk,  Layard,  87-98  ;  translated  by  Winckler,  Keilinschriftliche 
Bibliothek,  i.  128-151,  and  by  Scheil,  Records  of  the  Past,  New 
Series,  iv.  39  ff.  ;  (2)  The  Monolith,  Rawlinson,  iii.  7,  8,  translated 
by  Craig,  Hebraica,  1887,  pp.  201  ff. ;  Peiser,  Keilinschr.  Bibliothek, 
i.  150-175  ;  and  Scheil,  Records  of  the  Past,  New  Series,  iv.  55  ff.  ; 
(3)  The  Bronze  Gates  of  Balawat,  Pinches,  Trans.  Soc.  Bibl. 
Archaeology,  vii.,  pp.  83  ff.  •  Arniaud  and  Scheil,  Records  of  the  Past, 
New  Series,  iv.  74  ff. 


206  SYKIA    AND    PALESTINE 

anew  the  conquest  of  the  West.  Akhuni  of  Bit-Adini 
was  once  more  in  revolt,  but  he  was  easily  subdued. 
Then  Shalmaneser  crossed  the  Euphrates  in  the 
usual  way  on  rafts  supported  upon  inflated  sheep- 
skins, and  began  a  triumphal  progress  through  the 
Hittite  states  of  Northern  Syria.  Sangara  of  Carchem- 
ish,1  Sapalulme  of  Patin,  the  successor  of  Lubarna,'2 
Khani  of  Sam'al  (a  district  to  the  north  of  Patin,  of 
which  the  modern  Zenjirli  was  the  centre),  Mutallu 3 
of  Gurgum  (a  district  north  of  Sam'al,  of  which  Marash 
was  the  capital)  were  defeated  and  were  placed  once 
more  under  tribute.  Shalmaneser  then  passed 
through  Patin  over  the  route  followed  by  Ashurna- 
tsirpal,  destroying  the  cities  as  he  went,  as  far  as  the 
Mediterranean.4 

In  858  Akhuni  of  Bit-Adini  once  more  revolted, 
and  had  to  be  chastised  still  more  severely.  Shal- 
maneser then  crossed  the  Euphrates,  and  received 
the  tribute  of  the  states  that  he  had  subdued  in  the 
previous  year.  In  857  Akhuni  was  again  attacked, 
and  in  856  he  was  taken  captive  and  brought  with  his 
family  and  all  his  goods  to  Assyria.  Bit-Adini  was 
made  an  Assyrian  province  and  the  power  of  the 
Aramaeans  east  of  the  Euphrates  was  at  an  end.5 
Mesopotamia  thus  became  once  more  an  integral  part 
of  the  Assyrian  empire,  as  it  had  been  in  the  days  of 
Tiglath-pileser  I.  The  way  was  now  open  for  an 
advance  upon  Damascus,  the  other  great  Aramaean 

1  See  p.  200.  2  Ihid. 

3  Compare  the  names  of  the  old  Hittite  kings,  p.  106. 

4  Obelisk,  27-31 ;  Monolith,  i.  29-ii.  13. 

5  Obelisk,  32-51 ;   Monolith,  ii.  13-75. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  207 

power,  which  up  to  this  time  no  Assyrian  monarch 
had  ventured  to  touch. 

During  the  four  years  in  which  Shalmaneser  was 
occupied  with  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  Bit- 
Adini,  Benhadad  II.  of  Damascus  made  superhuman 
efforts  to  gather  an  army  strong  enough  to  withstand 
the  shock  that  was  certain  to  come  in  the  near  future. 
Negotiations  were  carried  on  with  all  the  princes  from 
Arabia  to  Cilicia  to  secure  their  promise  to  fight 
against  the  common  enemy.  Ahab  of  Israel  was 
unwilling  to  join  the  coalition,  and  it  was  probably 
to  compel  his  consent  that  Benhadad  about  857 
undertook  the  siege  of  Samaria  recorded  in  1  Kings 
xx.  1-21.  A  duplicate  account  of  this  siege  in 
2  Kings  vi.  24-vii.  20  has  been  erroneously  as- 
signed by  the  compiler  of  Kings  to  the  reign  of 
Jehoram. 

The  siege  was  unsuccessful,  for  Ahab  sent  out  a 
picked  company  of  knights,  who  fell  upon  the  Syrians 
unexpectedly  and  made  them  think  that  he  had  hired 
against  them  the  kings  of  the  Hittites  and  the  kings 
of  Mitsrayim,  in  consequence  of  which  they  were 
thrown  into  panic,  and  fled,  leaving  their  baggage  on 
the  field.  Mitsrayim  (Mitsrim  ?)  ordinarily  means 
Egypt,  but  a  combination  of  Egypt  with  the  Hittites 
at  this  time  is  inconceivable.  It  is  necessary,  accord- 
ingly, with  Winckler :  to  suppose  that  this  is  another 
instance  of  the  confusion  of  Mutsrim  with  Mitsrim  ; s 
in  this  case,  however,  it  is  not  the  North  Arabian 
Mutsri  that  is  meant,  but  another  Mutsri  in  Cilicia 
that  we  have  met  already  in  the  annals  of  Tiglath- 

1  Alttest.  Untersuchungen,  171  ff.  !  See  pp.  185,  243. 


208  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

pileser  I.1  Only  at  this  point  in  the  history,  when 
the  Hittite  states  and  Mutsri  still  enjoyed  autonomy, 
but  as  vassals  of  Assyria  were  likely  to  take  up  arms 
against  Damascus,  could  the  Syrians  have  suspected 
such  a  combination. 

The  following  year  Benhadad  renewed  the  attempt 
to  coerce  Ahab,2  but  with  so  little  success  that  his 
army  was  defeated  at  Aphek  and  he  himself  was  taken 
prisoner.  Ahab  was  not  disposed  to  deal  severely 
with  him,  for  he  realized  the  importance  of  preserv- 
ing Damascus  as  a  buffer-state  between  himself  and 
the  Assyrians ;  accordingly,  he  released  him,  on  con- 
dition that  he  should  restore  all  the  cities  that  his 
father  had  taken  from  Omri,  and  should  allow  the 
Israelitish  merchants  to  establish  a  quarter  in  Da- 
mascus. 

The  Book  of  Kings  gives  the  impression  that  Ben- 
hadad molested  Ahab  no  more,  but  the  Assyrian 
annals  record  that  in  854  Ahab  fought  as  Benha- 
dad's  ally  at  the  battle  of  Qarqar.  In  855,  according- 
ly, an  expedition  must  have  occurred  in  which  Ahab 
was  worsted,  lost  Kamoth  Gilead,3  and  was  compelled 
after  all  to  join  the  coalition  against  Shalmaneser. 

In  854  Shalmaneser  was  ready  for  a  supreme  effort 
to  overthrow  Damascus.  Crossing  the  Euphrates,  he 
encamped  in  the  city  of  Pitru,  where  he  received  the 
homage  and  the  tribute  of  the  kings  of  the  Hittites, 
of  Northern  Mesopotamia,  and  of  the  region  between 
the  Taurus  and  the  Anti-Taurus.  Thence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Khalman  (Aleppo),  which  surrendered  and 

1  See  pp.  178,  209.  2  1  Kings  xx.  26-34. 

3  Cf.  1  Kings  xxii.  3. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  209 

paid  tribute.  The  god  of  Khalman  Shalmaneser  id(  n- 
tified  with  his  own  Ramman  (Adad?)  and  presented 
him  with  sacrifices.  Apparently  this  is  an  instance 
of  the  survival  of  old  Babylonian  influence  in  Syria. 
From  Khalman  Shalmaneser  advanced  into  the  hostile 
territory  of  Ammatu  (Hamath),  plundering  and  de- 
stroying as  he  went,  until  he  arrived  at  Qarqar.  Here 
he  fell  in  with  Bir-'idri  (Benhadad)  and  his  Syrian 
allies.  Benhadad  himself  brought  1,200  chariots,  1,200 
horsemen,  and  20,000  infantry  ;  Irkhulina  of  Hamath, 
700  chariots,  700  horsemen,  and  10,000  infantry;  Ahab 
of  Israel,  2,000  chariots,  and  10,000  men  ;  the  king 
of  Que  (the  Cilician  sea-coast),  500  men  ;  the  king  of 
Mutsri  (a  district  north  of  Que,  between  the  Taurus 
and  the  Anti-Taurus),1  1,000  men;  the  king  of  Ir- 
qana,  10  chariots,  and  10,000  men ;  Matin-Baal  of 
Arvad,  200  men ;  the  king  of  Usanati,  200  men  ; 
Adon-Baal  of  Shiana  (North  Phoenicia,  the  Sinim  of 
Is.  xlix.  12),  30  chariots,  and  10,000  men  ;  Gindibu, 
the  Arabian,-  1,000  camels;  Baasha,  son  of  Rukhub, 
the  Ammonite,  1,000  men.3 

The  omissions  from  this  list  are  as  significant  as 
are  the  insertions.  Baal-azar,  king  of  Tyre,  who  suc- 
ceeded Ethbaal  about  855,  was  not  a  vassal  of  Ben- 
hadad, and  felt  himself  safe  enough  not  to  send 
troops.  Judah  also  is  not  mentioned,  doubtless  be- 
cause its  king  Avas  a  vassal  of  Ahab  and  furnished 
part  of  his  contingent  of  10,000  troops.  Moab  is  not 
named  for  the  same  reason.     Edom  was  a  province 

1  See  p.  207. 

2  This  is  the  first  occurrence  of  the  name  Arabian. 

3  Obelisk,  54-66;  .Monolith,  ii.  78-102. 


210  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

of  Judali,  and  was  probably  included  with  Judah  in 
the  forces  of  Ahab. 

Shalmaneser  represents  himself  as  victorious  in 
the  battle  against  these  allies ;  but  he  annexed  no 
new  territory,  and  immediately  afterward  returned 
home.  It  is  clear  that  in  Damascus  he  for  the  first 
time  met  a  foe  who  could  oppose  him  on  anything 
like  equal  terms. 

In  853,  the  year  after  the  battle  of  Qarqar,  Ahab 
deemed  that  a  favourable  time  had  come  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  of  Benhadad,  and  attempted  to  recon- 
quer Ramoth-Gilead  that  he  had  lost  in  the  last  war. 
Jehoshaphat,  king  of  Judali,  when  summoned  to  take 
part  in  the  expedition,  replied  like  a  loyal  vassal,  "  I 
am  as  thou  art,  my  people  as  thy  people,  my  horses 
as  thy  horses."  Fearing  the  fulfilment  of  an  adverse 
prophecy  of  Micaiah,  Ahab  fought  in  disguise,  while 
he  compelled  Jehoshaphat  to  wear  his  royal  robes ; 
but  in  the  engagement  he  himself  was  pierced  by  a 
random  arrow.  He  fought  on  manfully  until  evening, 
and  then  expired,  his  death  being  the  signal  for  the 
flight  of  the  Israelites.1 

Ahaziah,  the  son  of  Ahab,  was  crippled  in  conse- 
quence of  a  fall  from  the  roof  of  his  palace,  and  there- 
fore was*  unable  to  rule  with  his  father's  firm  hand. 
Mesha,  king  of  Moab,  revolted,  and  refused  to  pay 
the  tribute  that  Omri  had  imposed  on  his  father.2  In 
connection  with  this  revolt  we  may  plausibly  place 
the  invasion  of  Judah  by  the  Moabites,  Ammonites, 
and  some  of  the  Meunim  3  narrated  in  2  Chron.  xx. 

1  1  Kings  xxii.  1-40.  -  1  Kings  i.  1 ;  iii.  5. 

3  Following  the  text  of  the  LXX. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  211 

The  Meunim  are  doubtless  the  Ma'inim,  or  Minseans, 
whose  South  Arabian  empire  made  known  to  us  l>v 
the  recently  discovered  Mineean  inscriptions,  was  still 
flourishing  in  the  time  of  Jehoshaphat.  That  the 
Moabites  should  have  enlisted  their  help  in  an  attack 
upon  Israel  is  precisely  what  the  historical  situation 
would  lead  us  to  expect.  The  Arabians  (in  the 
narrow  sense  of  the  word)  were  just  beginning  to 
push  out  in  all  directions  from  Central  Arabia.  They 
are  first  mentioned  among  the  allies  of  Benhadad 
against  Shalmaneser,  and  from  this  time  onward  we 
shall  find  many  traces  of  their  aggression  until  the 
movement  culminates  (c.  500  B.C.)  in  the  Nabataean 
migration.  In  consequence  of  this  advanco  the  Bed- 
awin  of  the  Aramaean  and  Minaean  groups  were 
forced  out  of  their  old  homes  and  were  obliged  to 
enter  Syria  and  Palestine.  Both  Moab  and  Edom 
received  large  influxes  of  new  population.  In  2  Chron. 
xx.  10  the  Minaeans  of  verse  1  are  described  as  "  inhab- 
itants of  Mount  Seir."  The  names  of  the  Edomite 
kings  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  are  of  a 
different  type  from  those  found  in  the  list  of  Gen. 
xxxvi. ;  this  also  points  to  the  occupation  of  the  land 
by  a  new  population.  To  this  infusion  of  new  blood 
was  due  the  fresh  vitality  that  both  Moab  and  Edom 
began  to  manifest  at  this  time.  Both  succeeded 
presently  in  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  Israel  and  in 
establishing  themselves  as  independent  nations.  The 
beginning  of  this  movement  is  seen  in  the  attack  of 
the  Moabites  and  Minaeans  upon  Jehoshaphat.  He 
succeeded  in  repelling  it,  but  his  victory  was  only  a 
postponement  of  the  evil  day. 


212  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Toward  the  feeble  Abaziah  Jehosliaphat  manifested 
an  independent  spirit  that  he  had  never  dared  show 
in  his  dealings  with  Ahab.  Hoping  to  increase  his 
revenue,  and  thus  to  free  himself  from  the  control  of 
Israel,  he  constructed  a  fleet  in  Ezion-geber  on  the 
Elanitic  Gulf  in  the  land  of  Edom  to  go  to  Ophir.1 
Edom  still  remained  a  Judsean  province,  as  it  had 
been  since  the  time  of  David ;  in  fact,  we  are  told 
expressly  that  there  was  no  king  in  Edom,  but  only  a 
deputy  of  the  king  of  Judah.  When  Ahaziah  heard 
what  Jehosliaphat  was  doing,  he  expressed  a  desire 
to  participate;  but  the  latter,  not  wishing  to  share 
the  anticipated  profits,  refused  his  request.  The  fleet 
was  wrecked  before  it  had  got  under  way,  and  Je- 
hosliaphat was  obliged  to  humble  himself  once  more. 

Ahaziah  lived  scarcely  more  than  a  year  after  his 
accession,  and  in  852  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Joram  (Jehoram).  His  first  effort  was  to  reconquer 
Moab.2  To  this  end  he  gathered  his  forces,  and  sum- 
moned to  his  aid  the  aged  Jehoshaphat,  who  had 
been  on  the  throne  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  Ahab.  The  Edomites  also,  as  vassals  of 
Judah,  probably  furnished  their  contingent  of  troops.3 
While  traversing  the  land  of  Edom  the  army  was  at 
one  time  in  danger  of  perishing  from  thirst ;  but,  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  prophet  Elisha,  it  dug  trenches 
and  found  an  abundant  supply  of  water.     The  Moab- 

1  1  Kings  xxii.  47  ff.  '2  2  Kings  iii. 

3  The  mention  of  a  king  of  Edom  in  2  Kings  iii.  is  inconsistent 
with  the  statement  of  2  Kings  xxii.  47,  and  must  be  regarded  as  an 
editorial  gloss  due  to  the  fact  that  the  troops  are  said  to  have  trav- 
ersed the  territory  of  Edom. 


THE    ADVANCE    OP    ASSYRIA  213 

ite  forces  wore  defeated  on  the  border  of  their  land, 
and  were  pursued  as  far  as  Kir-hareseth,  the  capital. 
Mesha,  king  of  Moab,  fearing  that  he  would  not  be 
able  to  hold  out,  took  a  picked  force  of  700  men  and 
tried  to  escape  to  the  king  of  Syria; 1  but  the  sortie 
was  a  failure.  Then,  as  a  last  resort,  he  offered  his 
eldest  son  upon  the  wall  as  a  burnt  offering  to  appease 
the  anger  of  his  god  Cheinosh.  "And  there  was 
great  wrath  against  Israel,"  so  says  the  Hebrew 
record  ;  that  is,  Chemosh  turned  his  indignation  away 
from  Moab  and  against  Israel.  How  this  change 
showed  itself,  whether  a  plague  broke  out,  or  whether 
the  Israelites  were  disheartened  at  the  sight  of 
Mesha's  offering  so  that  they  no  longer  fought  well, 
the  narrative  does  not  tell  us.  At  all  events,  they 
failed  to  take  Kir-hareseth,  and  had  to  content 
themselves  with  wasting  the  land  and  reimposing 
tribute. 

This  was  Jehoshaphat's  last  campaign.  In  850  he 
died  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Jehoram  (Joram), 
who,  in  true  Oriental  fashion,  slew  all  his  brethren 
when  he  came  to  the  throne.2  The  following  year  he 
was  summoned  by  his  kinsman  and  suzerain,  Joram 
of  Israel,  to  help  Benhadad  against  Assyria.  Shal- 
maneser,  having  disposed  of  matters  in  Babylonia 
between  the  years  854  and  850,  was  ready  in  849  for 
another  attempt  upon  Damascus.  Crossing  the  Eu- 
phrates, he  captured  eighty-nine  towns  and  pressed 
on  toward  the  south.  Against  him  came  "  the  twelve 
kings  of  the  land  of  the  Hittites,"  among  them  doubt- 
less Joram  of  Israel,  although  he  is  not  expressly 
1  Read  Aram  instead  of  Edom.  '•  2  Chron.  xxi.  4. 


214  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

named.  Another  great  battle  was  fought,  in  which 
Shalmaneser  was  no  more  successful  than  in  the 
battle  of  Qarqar.  Although  he  again  claimed  a  vic- 
tory, he  retired  at  once  to  Assyria.1  In  846  he 
renewed  his  assault,  this  time  calling  out  the  entire 
fighting  force  of  the  land.  He  was  met  with  an  equal 
effort  on  the  part  of  Benhadad,  and  was  obliged  again 
to  retreat.2 

Such  warfare  made  a  heavy  drain  upon  the  smaller 
states  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  In  the  three  cam- 
paigns against  Shalmaneser  Judah  must  have  lost 
more  of  her  fighting  force  than  she  could  well  spare. 
The  result  was  that  Edom  threw  off  its  allegiance. 
Jehoram  attempted  to  subdue  it ;  but  his  troops  were 
defeated,  and  he  himself  was  barely  able  to  break 
through  by  night  and  escape  to  his  own  land.  The 
Canaanitish  city  of  Libnah  to  the  southwest  of  Judah, 
which  probably  controlled  the  caravan-route  to  Egypt, 
also  revolted  at  this  time  and  attached  itself  appar- 
ently to  the  Philistines.3 

On  top  of  these  disasters  came  another  South  Ara- 
bian invasion  4  such  as  had  taken  place  in  the  reign 
of  Asa.5  The  Arabians  that  dwelt  beside  the  Cush- 
ites  6  came  up,  and  were  joined  by  the  Philistines. 
From  time  immemorial  Arabia  and  Philistia  had  been 
allies,  since  it  was  for  the  interest  of  both  to  keep  the 
trade-route  open  between  South  Arabia  and  the 
Mediterranean.  The  object  of  their  present  attack 
was  doubtless  to  rob  Judah  of  the  port  of  Ezion- 

1  Obelisk,  87-89.  2  Ibid.,  91-92. 

3  2  Kings  viii.  20-22.  4  2  Chron.  xxi.  16  f. 

5  2  Chron.  xiv.  6  See  p.  197. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  215 

geber,  and  thus  to  secure  a  monopoly  of  the  truth; 
through  the  Red  Sea.  Jehoram  was  unable  to  with- 
stand them.  Jerusalem  was  captured  and  sacked, 
and  even  the  king's  family  was  carried  away,  with  the 
exception  of  a  single  son,  Ahaziah.  Judah  was  thus 
reduced  to  such  an  extremity  that  the  end  of  its 
national  existence  seemed  imminent.1 

About  843  Hazael  assassinated  Benhadad,  king  of 
Damascus,  and  reigned  in  his  stead.2  All  the  Syrian 
states,  which  Benhadad  had  laboriously  welded  into 
a  confederacy  to  oppose  the  advance  of  Assyria, 
immediately  revolted,  and  he  found  himself  con- 
fronted with  the  enormous  task  of  building  up  a  new 
alliance  before  Shalmaneser  should  fall  upon  him. 
Israel  seems  to  have  been  the  first  of  the  rebels  that 
he  attempted  to  coerce,3  and  a  war  broke  out  that 
resulted  only  in  the  weakening  of  both  combatants. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  struggle,  Mesha,  king  of 
Moab,  once  more  revolted  ;  and  this  time  succeeded 
in  establishing  his  independence,  forty  years  in  round 
numbers  after  the  conquest  by  Ornri.  To  celebrate 
this  event  he  set  up  the  famous  "  Moabite  Stone," 
or  "Mesha  Inscription,"4  discovered  by  Klein  at 
Dibon  in  1868,  which  reads  as  follows  : 

"  I  (am)  Mesha,  son  of  Chemosh-melek,  king  of  Moab,  the 
Dibonite.  My  father  was  king  over  Moab  thirty  years,  and  I 
became  king  after  my  father.  And  I  made  this  high-place  of 
Chemosh,  a  high-place  (in  commemoration)  of  deliverance, 
because  he  delivered  me  from  all  the  kings  (?),  and  because 

1  2  Kings  viii.  19.         2  2  Kings  viii.  7-15.         3  2  Kings  viii.  28. 
4  For  literature  see  Lidzbarski,  Nordsemitische  Epigraphik,  pp. 
4-83,  and  Hastings,  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  article  "  Moab." 


216  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

he  let  me  see  (my  desire)  upon  all  my  enemies.  Omri  (was) 
king  of  Israel,  and  lie  distressed  Moab  many  days,  because 
Chemosh  was  angry  with  his  land.  And  his  son  succeeded 
him  ;  and  he  also  said,  I  will  distress  Moab.  In  my  days  he 
spoke  thus,  (?)  but  I  saw  (my  desire)  upon  him  and  upon  his 
house,  and  Israel  perished  with  an  everlasting  destruction. 
And  Omri  took  possession  of  the  land  (?)  of  Medeba,  and 
occupied  it  (during)  his  days ;  and  (during)  half  of  my  days 
his  son  (occupied  it),  forty  years  (in  all)  ; '  but  Chemosh  re- 
stored it  in  my  days.  And  I  built  Baal-meon,  and  I  made  in 
it  the  reservoir  (?) ;  and  I  built  Kirjathaim.  And  the  men  of 
Gad  dwelt  in  Ataroth  from  of  old,  and  the  king  of  Israel  built 
Ataroth  for  himself ;  but  I  fought  against  the  city  and  took 
it.  And  I  slew  all  the  people  of  the  city,  as  a  spectacle  for 
Chemosh  and  for  Moab;  and  I  brought  thence  the  altar- 
hearth  (?)  of  DWDH,  and  I  dragged  (?)  it  before  Chemosh  in 
Kerioth.  And  I  settled  therein  the  men  of  ShEN  and  the 
men  of  MKhRTh.  And  Chemosh  said  unto  me,  Go,  take 
Nebo  against  Israel;  and  I  went  by  night,  and  I  fought 
against  it  from  the  break  of  dawn  until  noon.  And  I  took  it, 
and  I  slew  all  of  them,  7,000  (men)  .  .  .  and  women,  and 
.  .  .  ,  and  female  slaves,  for  I  had  devoted  it  to  Ashtar- 
Chemosh.  And  I  took  thence  the  ...  of  Yahweh,  and  I 
dragged  (?)  them  before  Chemosh.  Now  the  king  of  Israel 
had  built  Jahaz,  and  had  occupied  it  while  he  fought  against 
me;  but  Chemosh  drove  him  out  from  before  me.  And  I 
took  200  men  of  Moab,  all  its  chiefs,  and  led  them  against 
Jahaz,  and  took  it  to  add  (it)  to  Dibon .  I  built  QRKhH,  the 
Wall  of  the  Forests  and  the  Wall  of  the  Mound ;  and  I  built 
its  gates,  and  I  built  its  towers.     And  I  built  the  house  of  the 

1  This  translation  which  is  proposed  by  Marti  in  Encyclopcedia 
Biblica,  col.  792,  is  preferable  to  the  ordinary  one,  "  And  Omri 
took  possession  of  the  land  of  Medeba,  and  (Israel)  dwelt  there  his 
days  and  half  his  son's  days,  forty  years,"  which  makes  Omri's 
reign  and  half  of  Ahab's  cover  a  period  of  forty  years,  an  assump- 
tion that  throws  the  entire  chronology  of  the  early  Hebrew  kings 
into  confusion.     See  Winckler,  Altorient.  Forsch.  iii.  1. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  217 

king,  and  I  made  both  (?)  its  reservoirs  for  water  in  the  midst 
of  the  city.  And  there  had  been  no  cistern  in  the  midst  of 
the  city  in  QRKhH  ;  but  I  said  to  all  the  people,  Make  you 
all  a  cistern  each  in  his  house.  And  I  cut  out  the  cutting  for 
QRKhH  by  (using)  the  prisoners  (taken  from)  Israel.  I  built 
Aroer,  and  I  made  the  road  by  Arnon,  and  I  built  Beth-bamoth, 
for  it  had  been  destroyed.  I  built  Bezel1,  for  (it  was  in  ruins). 
(And  the  chiefs)  of  Dibon  were  fifty,  for  all  Dibon  was  obedient. 
And  I  ruled  a  hundred  (chiefs)  in  the  cities  which  I  had  added 
unto  the  land.  And  I  built  Medeba  (?)  and  Beth-diblathaim, 
and  Beth-Baal-Maon  ;  and  I  placed  there  the  .  .  .  sheep 
of  the  land.  And  Horonaim,  wherein  dwelt  .  .  .  and 
.  .  .  Chemosh  said  unto  me,  Go  down,  fight  against 
Horonaim.  And  I  went  down  .  .  .  (And)  Chemosh  re- 
stored (?)  it  in  my  days.  And  I  went  up  thence  .  .  .  And 
I.     .     .     ." 

Meanwhile  the  war  between  Israel  and  Damascus 
still  went  on.  Aliaziah  of  Judah,  who  came  to  the 
throne  in  842,  was  summoned  by  Joram  to  his  aid, 
and  together  the  kings  went  up  to  Ranioth-Gilead  to 
fight  against  Hazael.  Here  Joram  was  wounded,  and 
returned  to  Jezreel  in  company  with  Aliaziah,  leaving 
the  army  in  command  of  a  general.  At  this  juncture 
Elisha  despatched  one  of  the  "  sons  of  the  prophets" 
to  Ramoth-Gilead  to  anoint  Jehu,  and  when  he  told 
his  brother  officers  what  had  been  done,  they  immedi- 
ately hailed  him  as  king.  He  prevented  any  messen- 
gers leaving  the  city,  and  proceeded  himself  at  full 
speed  toward  Jezreel.  His  coming  was  observed 
from  the  walls,  and  messengers  were  sent  out  to  learn 
his  tidings ;  but  he  ordered  them  to  follow  him,  and 
pressed  on.  Then  the  kings  Joram  and  Ahaziah, 
supposing  that  he  brought  important  news  of  the  cam- 
paign  at   Ramoth-Gilead,  drove   out   to  meet  him. 


218  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Perceiving,  when  it  was  too  late,  that  he  planned 
treason,  they  tried  to  flee ;  but  Jehu  drew  his  bow 
and  shot  Joram  through  the  heart.  Ahaziah  escaped 
as  far  as  Ibleam  (Bel'ame),  but  there  was  wounded 
and  died  at  Megiddo.  Jehu  then  slew  all  the  house 
of  Omri  and  made  himself  king  of  Israel.1  Athaliah, 
the  daughter  of  Jezebel,  and  mother  of  Ahaziah,  at 
the  same  time  seized  the  throne  of  Judah,  slaying  all 
the  rightful  heirs,  except  the  child  Joash,  who  was 
hidden  in  the  temple  by  his  aunt  Jehoshebah.2  Six 
years  later  he  became  king  as  the  result  of  a  success- 
ful revolt  against  Athaliah. 

The  same  year  842,  when  all  was  in  confusion  in 
Palestine,  Shalmaneser  made  another  attack  upon 
Damascus.  Crossing  Northern  Syria,  he  marched 
along  the  coast  to  Beirut,  and  thence  turned  inland. 
Hazael  this  time  stood  alone,  for  none  of  the  twelve 
kings  that  had  joined  Benhadad  came  to  his  aid.  He 
was  defeated,  and  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  behind 
the  walls  of  Damascus.  Shalmaneser  wasted  the 
country,  but  was  not  able  to  take  the  capital.  At  this 
time  he  received  the  tribute  of  Tyre,  of  Sidon,  and  of 
Jehu,  "  the  son  of  Omri,"  consisting  of  gold,  silver, 
and  objects  of  art.3 

By  this  payment  of  tribute  Jehu  attempted  not 
only  to  secure  a  title  to  his  throne,  but  also  to  declare 
his  independence  of  Damascus.  Henceforth  his  mas- 
ter was  to  be,  not  Hazael,  but  Shalmaneser.  Shal- 
maneser made  one  more  unsuccessful  attempt  to  re- 

1  2  Kings  ix.-x.  2  2  Kings  xi.  1-3. 

3  Obelisk,  97-99;  Rawlinson,  lii.  5,  6;  Keilinschr.  Bibliothek,  i., 
p.  140  f 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  219 

duce  Damascus  in  the  year  839,  and  then  gave  up  the 
attack.  The  remaining  fourteen  years  of  his  life  were 
occupied  with  campaigns  in  Asia  Minor,  Armenia, 
and  Media,  and  with  a  revolution  that  broke  out  in 
Assyria.  Damascus  was  thus  given  a  breathing-spell, 
and  Hazael  had  a  chance  to  avenge  himself  on  Jehu 
and  on  the  other  kings  that  had  refused  to  help  him 
and  that  had  paid  tribute  to  his  rival.  "  And  Hazael 
smote  them  in  all  the  borders  of  Israel ;  from  Jordan 
eastward,  all  the  land  of  Gilead,  the  Gadites,  and  the 
Reubenites,  and  the  Mauassites,  from  Aroer,  which 
is  by  the  valley  of  Anion,  even  Gilead  and  Bashan."  l 
The  war  lasted  all  Jehu's  life  and  into  the  reign  of 
his  son,  and  the  relentless  cruelty  that  Hazael  dis- 
played made  his  name  infamous  in  Hebrew  tradi- 
tion.2 

During  the  lifetime  of  Shalmaneser  II.  a  new  rival 
to  the  Assyrian  empire  appeared  in  the  Armenian 
kingdom  founded  by  Sarduri,  son  of  Lutipris,  with 
Tushpa  (Van)  as  its  capital.  After  the  death  of  Shal- 
maneser in  825  this  kingdom  became  so  formidable 
an  opponent  that  the  next  five  kings  of  Assyria  had 
to  forego  further  conquest  in  the  West.  Shamshi- 
Ramman  IV.,3  the  son  of  Shalmaneser  II.  (825-812), 
was  occupied  all  his  reign  with  Ispuinis,  king  of  Ar- 
menia ;  and,  therefore,  brought  no  relief  to  Jehu  or 
to  his  son  Jehoahaz  (815).     Hazael  continued  to  waste 

1  2  Kings  x.  32  f. 

- 1  Kings  xix.  17;  2  Kings  viii.  12  f.  ;  Amos  i.  3. 

3  The  only  sources  for  his  reign  are  the  Eponym  Canon  and  the 
inscription,  Rawlinson,  iv.  29-31;  translated,  Sayce,  Records  of  the 
Past,  i.  9-22;   Abel,  Keilinschr.  Bibl.%  i.  174-187. 


220  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Israel,  attacking  not  merely  the  regions  east  of  the 
Jordan,  but  also  those  west  of  it.  Jehoahaz  was  re- 
peatedly defeated,  until,  as  a  result  of  his  unsuccess- 
ful campaigns,  he  had  only  50  horsemen,  10  chariots, 
and  10,000  footmen  left,  in  place  of  the  2,000  chariots 
with  which  Ahab  had  fought  at  the  battle  of  Qarqar.1 
After  the  conquest  of  Israel  Hazael  pressed  forward 
along  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Philistine  city  of  Gaza, 
which  belonged  to  Judah,  and  thence  set  out  to 
besiege  Jerusalem.  Joash  stripped  the  temple  and 
the  palace  of  their  treasures,  and  sent  them  out  to 
him  to  buy  him  off.  Hazael  accepted  the  tribute, 
and  returned  to  Damascus.2 

In  812  Kamman-nirari  III.,  the  son  of  Shamshi- 
Ramman  IV.,  came  to  the  throne  of  Assyria ; 3  and 
about  the  same  time  Hazael  died  and  his  son  Ben- 
hadad  III.,  who  in  all  probability  is  to  be  identified 
with  Mari'  of  the  Assyrian  monuments,  reigned  over 
Damascus.4  Benhadad  continued  the  war  against 
Jehoahaz  that  his  father  had  inaugurated,  and  re- 
duced Israel  to  great  straits,  until  he  himself  was 
menaced  by  a  new  Assyrian  invasion.  In  806  Rani- 
man-nirari  had  sufficiently  consolidated  his  power 
and  sufficiently  curbed  his  northern  neighbours  to 
attempt  an  invasion  of  Syria.  The  city  of  Arpad, 
which  presumably  had  revolted,  was  subdued,  and 
the  tribute  of  the  land  of  the  Hittites  was  received.5 

1  2  Kings  xiii.  3,  7,  22. 

5  2  Kings  xii.  17  f. ;  2  Chron  xxiv.  23  f. 

3  Besides  the  Eponym  Canon,  our  chief  sources  for  his  reign  are 
the  tablets  discovered  at  Kalakh,  translated  by  Sayce,  Records  of 
the  Past,  i.  3  ff . ;  Abel,  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  i.  188-193. 

4  1  Kings  xiii.  24.  5  Eponym  List  for  the  year  806. 


THE    ADVANCE    OK    ASSY  U  A  221 

The  following  year  Khazazu  ('Azaz)  in  Northern 
Syria  was  visited.1  On  one  of  these  campaigns  Ram- 
man-nirari  came  in  conflict  with  Mari',  king  of  Damas- 
cus, defeated  him,  and  besieged  his  capital.  It  was 
not  captured,  but  he  was  compelled  to  pay  as  ransom 
2,300  talents  of  silver,  20  talents  of  gold,  3,000  talents 
of  copper,  5,000  talents  of  iron,  variegated  garments, 
dress-goods,  an  ivory  couch,  and  an  inlaid  chair. 
Thus  the  prestige  of  Damascus  was  shattered  ;  and 
the  smaller  states,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Omriland  (i.e.,  Israel), 
Edom,  and  Philistia,  hastened  to  send  their  presents 
to  Eamman-nirari.'-  The  separate  mention  of  Edom 
is  interesting  as  a  confirmation  of  the  statement  of 
2  Kings  viii.  20-22  that  Edom  shortly  before  had 
shaken  off  its  allegiance  to  Judah.  Judah  itself  is 
not  mentioned,  doubtless  because  it  still  remained  a 
vassal  of  Israel.  The  absence  of  Ammon  and  Moab 
from  the  list  is  more  difficult  to  explain,  as  neither 
was  subject  to  Jehoahaz.  They  may  have  been  con- 
quered by  Hazael,  or  they  may  have  regarded  them- 
selves as  sufficiently  remote  from  the  scene  of  Eam- 
man-nirari's  operations  to  abstain  from  sending  their 
gifts. 

In  combination  with  this  defeat  of  Mari'  is  to  be 
placed  the  statement  of  2  Kings  xiii.  4  f.  that  "  Yah- 
weh  gave  Israel  a  saviour,  so  that  they  went  out  from 
under  the  hand  of  the  Syrians,  and  the  children  of 
Israel  dwelt  in  their  tents  as  beforetime."  Mari', 
in  consequence  of  his  defeat  by  the  Assyrians,  was 
unable   to   continue   his  attacks.     In  797  Ramman- 

1  Eponym  List  for  the  year  805. 

2  Keilitischriftliche  Bibliothek,  i.,  p.  190  f. 


222  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

nirari  was  again  in  Syria  at  the  city  of  Martsuati,1 
and  Mari'  once  more  perhaps  came  into  conflict  with 
him.  At  all  events,  he  gave  Israel  no  more  trouble 
for  a  number  of  years. 

In  799  Jehoahaz  was  succeeded  by  Jehoash.  The 
following  year  Joash,  king  of  Judah,  was  succeeded 
by  Amaziah.  Under  these  new  kings  the  fortunes  of 
Israel  and  of  Judah  began  to  take  a  turn  for  the 
better.  Jehoash  inflicted  three  defeats  upon  Ben- 
hadad  III.  (Mari'),  and  recovered  all  the  cities  that 
had  been  taken  from  his  father.2  He  had  to  suffer 
somewhat  from  incursions  of  the  Moabites,  who  con- 
tinued the  policy  of  reprisal  begun  by  Mesha,3  but 
their  attacks  seem  to  have  inflicted  little  damage. 

'Amaziah,  king  of  Judah,  was  obliged  to  repel  an 
Edomite  invasion,  caused  probably  by  the  pressure  of 
Arabian  tribes  in  the  rear.  His  campaign  was  brill- 
iantly successful,  for  he  slew  10,000  men  in  the 
Valley  of  Salt,  took  Sela,  the  capital,  by  storm,  and 
hurled  multitudes  of  its  people  down  from  the  crags.4 
In  consequence  of  this  victory  he  secured  possession 
once  more  of  the  route  to  the  Red  Sea,  but  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  overthrown  the  Edomite 
kingdom.  In  the  time  of  Ahaz  and  of  Tiglath- 
pileser  III.  an  independent  king  of  Edom  is  men- 
tioned both  by  the  Hebrew  and  by  the  Assyrian 
records. 

Elated  over  his  success,  Amaziah  resolved  to  throw 
off  his  allegiance  to  Jehoash,  king  of  Israel,  and  chal- 
lenged him  to  come  up  and  "  look  him  in  the  face." 

1  Eponym  List  for  the  year  797.  -  2  Kings  xiii.  25. 

3  2  Kings  xiii.  20.  4  2  Kings  xiv.  7 ;  2  Chron.  xxv.  11  f. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  223 

Jelioash  attempted  to  dissuade  him,  but  finding  this 
impossible,  joined  battle  at  Beth-shemesh  and  de- 
feated him.  Following  up  this  victory,  he  broke 
down  a  section  of  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  plundered 
the  temple,  and  took  hostages  for  future  good  be- 
haviour.1 The  Book  of  Kings  then  records  2  how  the 
people  of  Judah  conspired  against  Amaziah,  slew  him 
in  Lachish,  and  made  his  son  Azariah  (Uzziah)  king 
in  his  stead.  That  this  revolt  was  due  to  his  unsuc- 
cessful war  with  Jehoash  seems  obvious.  If  this  be 
so,  then  the  long  reign  of  twenty-nine  years  that  is 
assigned  him  by  the  Book  of  Kings  is  impossible. 
Wellhausen's  assumption  of  nine  years  instead  of 
twenty-nine,  meets  the  historical  conditions,  but  is 
onl}-  a  conjecture.  All  that  we  can  be  sure  of  is,  that 
Amaziah  cannot  have  outlived  Jelioash,  and  that 
Uzziah  must  have  come  to  the  throne  of  Judah  about 
the  same  time  that  Jeroboam  II.  came  to  the  throne 
of  Israel  (784  B.C.). 

In  783  Shalmaneser  III.  began  to  reign  over 
Assyria,  and  about  the  same  time  a  new  king  must 
have  reigned  over  Damascus.  His  name  is  not 
known,  but  Winckler  conjectures  that  it  was  Tabeel, 
mentioned  in  Isa.  vii.  6.  During  the  reign  of  Shal- 
maneser III.  Assyria  suffered  still  more  severely  from 
the  attacks  of  Armenia.  Menuas,  the  successor  of 
Ispuinis  and  Argistis  I.,  his  successor,  have  left  in- 
scriptions on  the  rocks  near  Van,  in  a  modified  As- 
syrian character,  but  in  the  language  of  Armenia,  in 
which  they  record  their  successes  against  Assyria 
and  their  conquest  of  regions  in  Asia  Minor  and 
1  2  Kings  xiv.  8-14.  -  2  Kings  xiv.  19-21. 


22i  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

North  Syria.  From  Sbalmaneser  III.  and  the  next 
two  kings  we  possess  no  historical  inscriptions,  a  fact 
which  shows  that  this  was  a  time  of  weakness.  Only 
the  Eponym  Canon  with  Historical  Notices  enables  us 
to  trace  the  general  course  of  events.1 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  reign  of  Shalmaneser  III. 
(783-773)  was  taken  up  with  campaigns  against  Ar- 
menia. Only  in  775  did  he  find  leisure  to  traverse 
Northern  Syria  as  far  as  Amanus,  "  the  cedar-moun- 
tain." On  this  campaign  he  doubtless  received  the 
tribute  of  the  nations  that  still  remained  loyal  to  him, 
but  the  northern  tier  of  states,  in  which  the  Hittites 
predominated,  had  all  gone  over  to  Armenia,  and  re- 
mained loyal  to  that  power  until  the  time  of  Tiglath- 
pileser  III.2 

Ashur-dan  III.  (773-755)  undertook  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  reign  an  expedition  against  Damascus, 
with  what  results  we  do  not  know.  In  772  and  765  he 
attacked  Khatarika  (Hadrach),  a  district  to  the  north 
of  Damascus ;  but  after  this  pestilence  and  civil  war 
broke  out,  and  there  was  no  campaign  until  755, 
when  Hadrach  was  once  more  attacked. 

Ashurnirari  II.  (754-746)  conducted  one  expedition 
against  Arpad  in  754,  but  the  rest  of  his  reign  was 
spent  in  inactivity  at  home.  During  this  period  of 
Assyria's  decline  the  Syrian  states  probably  all  re- 
covered their  independence,  and  when  Tiglath-pileser 
III.  began  anew  the  work  of  conquest,  he  found  them 
almost  as  strong  as  they  had  been  when  Shalmaneser 
II.  came  against  them.  How  far  these  states  were 
menaced  by  Armenia,  and   whether   Damascus  was 

1  Keilinschriftliclie  Bibliothek,  i.  208  ff.  2  See  p.  731. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYRIA  225 

forced  to  contend  against  this  enemy,  when  it  was 
not  fighting  with  Assyria,  we  do  not  know. 

Within  this  period,  which  is  covered  by  the  long 
reigns  of  Jeroboam  II.  of  Israel  and  Uzziah  of  Judah, 
falls  the  highest  development  of  the  Hebrew  peoples 
since  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon.  Damascus 
was  too  crippled  by  her  wars  with  Assyria  to  hold 
them  longer  in  subjection,  and  Assyria  was  too  weak 
to  collect  tribute  of  the  Palestinian  states.  The  result 
was  that  both  Israel  and  Judah  enjoyed  a  brief  season 
of  unparalleled  prosperity.  Jeroboam,  in  accordance 
with  a  prediction  of  the  prophet  Jonah  son  of  Amit- 
tai,  "restored  the  border  of  Israel  from  the  Entrance 
of  Hamath  J  to  the  Sea  of  the  Arabah  (Dead  Sea)."  2 
To  his  conquests  east  of  the  Jordan  Amos  probably 
alludes  when  he  speaks  of  Israel  as  rejoicing  in  Lode- 
bar  ;  and  saying,  Have  we  not  taken  Karnaim  by  our 
own  strength  ? 3  The  text  of  2  Kings  xiv.  28  is  hope- 
lessly corrupt,  still  it  points  to  successes  of  some  sort 
against  Damascus.  It  is  clear  from  2  Kings  xiv.  26  f. 
that  the  editor  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  although  he 
records  little  about  Jeroboam,  regards  him  as  one  of 
the  greatest  kings  that  reigned  over  Israel.  It  is  a 
plausible  conjecture,  since  he  restored  the  border  of 
Israel  as  far  as  the  Sea  of  the  Arabah,  that  he  recon- 
quered Moab,  and  to  this  event  the  old  oracle  quoted 
by  Isaiah  in  xv.  1-12  is  supposed  by  many  to  refer. 

Contemporaneously  with  these  events  Uzziah  was 
busy  strengthening  the  kingdom  of  Judah.     He  took 

1  See  p.  184.  2  2  Kings  xiv.  25. 

3  Am.  vi.  13,  with  amended  vowel-pointing,  according  to  the 
conjecture  of  Gratz. 


226  SYEIA    AND   PALESTINE 

advantage  of  his  father's  victory  over  Edom  to  occupy 
and  refortify  the  port  of  Elath  on  the  Eed  Sea  near 
Ezion-geber,  and  thus  he  enriched  Judah  once  more 
through  trade  with  the  East.1     This  is  the  only  item 
in  regard  to  his  reign  that  the  editor  of  Kings  has 
preserved,  but  the  Chronicler,  who   must  have  had 
access  to  ancient  sources,  records  that  he  fought  suc- 
cessfully against  the  Philistines  and  broke  down  the 
walls  of   Gath,  Jabneh,  and  Ashdod ;    also  that   he 
defeated  the  Arabians  who  dwelt  in  Gur2  (Gerar?) 
and  the  Meunim  (Minseans),  and  that  the  Ammonites 
paid  him  tribute.     The  Arabians  we  have  met  already 
in  the  army  of  Benhadad  at  the  battle  of  Qarqar ; 
there  is   no  difficulty,  therefore,  in   supposing  that 
they  came  into  conflict  with  Uzziah.     The  Minsean 
kingdom  of  South  Arabia  was  still  standing,  and  that 
it  should  have  resented  the  interruption  of  its  trade 
caused  by  the  occupation  of  Elath  is  not  remarkable. 
Uzziah  is  said  also  to  have  developed   agriculture 
and   cattle-breeding,    and    to    have  refortified   Jeru- 
salem  and   equipped   it  with  machines   for  hurling 
stones   and   arrows.4      Whether   these   undertakings 
were  carried  out  in  the  later  years  of  his  life  after  the 
death  of  Jeroboam  and  the  break-up  of  the  northern 
kingdom,  or  whether  Jeroboam  permitted  the  rebuild- 
ing of  the  stronghold  that  his  father  had  dismantled, 
we   do   not   know.     The  accounts   of  the  reigns   of 
Uzziah  and  of  Jeroboam  II.  are  both  meagre,  and  the 
Assyrian  records  for  this  period  are  so  few,  that  it  is 

1  2  Kings  xiv.  22. 

2  On  the  text  see  Winckler,  Gesch.  Isr.,  i.,  p.  46,  note. 

3  2  Chron.  xxvi.  6-8.  4  2  Chron.  xxvi.  9-15. 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    ASSYEIA  227 

impossible  to  arrange  the  events  in  chronological 
order.  It  seems  clear,  however,  that  Uzziah  was  one 
of  Judah's  mightiest  monarchs,  and  that,  at  least  after 
the  death  of  Jeroboam,  he  must  have  secured  the 
complete  independence  of  his  kingdom. 

The  period  of  Uzziah  and  Jeroboam  was  the  golden 
age  of  Israel.  As  a  result  of  conquest  and  of  com- 
mercial enterprise  the  accumulation  of  wealth  was 
greater  than  had  ever  been  known  before.  The  rich 
lived  in  palaces  of  hewii-stone  and  of  ivory.  They 
reposed  on  couches  with  damask  coverings.  They 
lay  upon  beds  of  ivory,  and  stretched  themselves  upon 
sofas.  They  ate  lambs  selected  out  of  the  flocks,  and 
calves  fattened  in  the  stall.  They  sang  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  harps  songs  that  they  thought  as  fine  as 
those  of  David.  They  drank  beakers  of  rare  wine, 
and  anointed  themselves  with  precious  ointments.1 

This  prosperity,  however,  was  restricted  to  the 
upper  classes.  While  the  nobles  flourished,  the  poor 
grew  constantly  poorer.  The  peasant  proprietors 
were  crowded  out,  and  all  the  land  came  into  the 
hands  of  a  few  great  nobles.  The  free-born  Israelites 
sank  to  the  position  of  serfs.  Oppression  and  injus- 
tice flourished  ;  and  it  was  clear  to  thoughtful  men, 
such  as  Amos,  Hosea,  and  Isaiah,  that  both  kingdoms 
must  soon  perish.  While  the  nobles  were  boasting 
of  their  victories,  and  were  pluming  themselves  that 
theirs  was  the  greatest  nation,  and  were  longing  for 
the  "  Day  of  Yahweh "  in  which  they  should  be 
victorious  over  all  peoples,  these  three  prophets  de- 
clared that  destruction  was  near  at  hand. 

1  Amos  v.  11;  iii.  15;  iii.  12;  vi.  1-6,  13,  14;  Isa.  ii.  6-v.  30. 


228  SYKIA    AND    PALESTINE 

For  the  contemporary  history  of  the  neighbouring 
nations  we  have  little  information.  Amos  records 
that  the  Arama3ans  were  guilty  of  the  unparalleled 
barbarity  of  putting  the  people  of  Gilead  under  iron 
threshing-sledges  ;  that  both  the  Philistines  and  the 
Tyrians  were  in  the  habit  of  obtaining  slaves  by 
razzias  into  the  territory  of  Israel ;  that  the  Ammon- 
ites, merely  to  enlarge  their  borders,  had  ripped  up 
the  women  of  Gilead;  and  that  the  Mdabites  had 
invaded  Edom  and  burned  the  bones  of  its  king  to 
lime.1  Hosea  adds  the  information  that  Shalman 
(perhaps  the  same  as  Salamanu,  king  of  Moab,  men- 
tioned in  the  inscriptions  of  Tiglath-pileser  III.) 
spoiled  Beth-arbel  and  dashed  mothers  and  children 
to  pieces.2  Beyond  this  we  know  nothing  of  Israel's 
neighbours  during  the  period  of  Assyrian  inactivity. 
1  Amos  i.  2  Hos.  x.  14. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  ASSYRIAN   SUPREMACY 
745-G25  b.c. 

In  745  one  of  Ashurnirari's  generals,  taking  advan- 
tage of  a  revolt  in  the  city  of  Caloh,  usurped  the 
throne,  and  assumed  the  name  of  Tiglath-pileser  in 
token  of  his  determination  to  rival  the  conquests  of 
his  great  namesake.1  In  his  coronation  year  he 
marched  into  Babylonia,  ostensibly  to  defend  it  from 
the  incursions  of  the  nomadic  Aramaeans,  but  really 
to  make  himself  master  of  the  country.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  chastised  the  rebellious  tribes  of  the  East. 
Then  he  was  ready  for  conquests  in  the  West. 

During  the  reign  of  his  feeble  predecessors  the 
provinces  had  thrown  off  their  allegiance,  and  the 
more  northerly  ones  had  become  tributary  to  Armenia. 
A  certain  Matiel  had  established  himself  at  Arpad 
with  the  help  of  the  Armenian  Sarduri  II.,  and  had 
made  it  a  centre  of  rebellion.  Against  him  Tiglath- 
pileser  marched  in  743,  and  besieged  his  city.2  Sar- 
duri therefore  invaded  Mesopotamia  with  his  allies, 
Sulumal   of   Melitcne,   Tarkhulara   of   Gurgum,  and 

1  The  inscriptions  of  Tiglath-pileser  III.  have  been  published  in 
a  critical  edition  with  transliteration  and  translation  by  Rost,  Die 
Keilschrifttexte  Tiglat-Pilesers  III.,  1893, 

s  Eponym  List  for  the  year  743. 
229 


230  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Kuslitashpi  of  Kummukh.1  Tiglath-pileser  was  com- 
pelled to  retreat  from  Arpad,  but  in  Northern  Meso- 
potamia he  won  a  great  victory  which  broke  the 
power  of  Armenia  and  prevented  further  interference 
in  the  West.  Then  he  returned  to  the  siege  of  Arpad. 
When  after  three  years'  righting  it  fell,  nearly  all  the 
states  of  Syria  submitted.  Among  the  tributaries  are 
mentioned  Rezon  of  Damascus,  Hiram  of  Tyre,  and 
Pisiris  of  Carchemish.  Tarkhulara  of  Gurgum  and 
Kuslitashpi  of  Kummukh  abandoned  their  alliance 
with  Sarduri  and  made  their  peace  with  Assyria. 

Only  Tutammu,  king  of  Unqi  ('Amq),  refused  to 
submit,  but  he  was  speedily  conquered  and  his  capital 
razed  to  the  ground.  In  his  case  Tiglath-pileser 
inaugurated  the  policy  of  deportation.  His  pred- 
ecessors made  repeated  expeditions  to  chastise  reb- 
els ;  but  he  prevented  rebellion  by  removing  stub- 
born nations  to  distant  parts  of  his  empire,  where 
they  were  lost  among  a  heterogeneous  population. 
Cruel  as  this  policy  was,  it  was  eminently  practical, 
for  it  gave  a  unity  to  the  Assyrian  empire  such  as  it 
had  never  before  attained. 

Among  the  kings  who  took  sides  with  Sarduri  was 
probably  Panammu,  son  of  Karal,  whose  statue  of  the 
god  Hadad  was  found  by  the  German  expedition  in 
1890  at  Gerjin  near  Zenjirli  in  Northwest  Syria. 
This  Panammu,  who  was  deposed  by  Tiglath-pileser 
in  favour  of  another  Panammu,  son  of  Bar-Tsur,2  has 
left  on  the  statue  just  mentioned  the  earliest  known 

1  Rost,  Annals,  lines  59-101. 

5  Panammu  Inscription,  line  5 ;  Winckler,  Altor.  Forschungen,  i 
1,  p.  106 ;  Marquart,  Fundamente,  p.  23. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  231 

Aramaic  inscription.1  The  characters  are  those  of 
the  so-called  Phoenician  alphabet,  and  are  nearly 
identical  with  those  of  the  Mesha  Inscription.  In- 
stead of  being  incised,  however,  as  in  the  Mesha 
Inscription,  they  are  cut  in  relief  after  the  manner  of 
the  Hittite  hieroglyphs.  The  language  of  this  in- 
scription is  far  closer  to  Canaanitic  than  are  any  of 
the  later  dialects  of  Aramaic.  It  indicates  either  that 
early  Aramaic  differed  little  from  Canaanitic,  or  else 
that  in  this  region  the  Aramaeans  mingled  with  an 
earlier  Canaanitic  population. 

This  inscription  records  how  Panammu  bar-Karal 
seized  the  sceptre  of  the  kingdom  of  Ya'udi,  and  how 
under  his  rule  it  enjoyed  unequalled  prosperity. 
Then  follow  the  last  injunctions  of  Karal  to  his  son 
to  reverence  Hadad  and  to  erect  a  statue  in  his  honour. 
Finally  curses  are  launched  against  anyone  who  shall 
dare  to  injure  this  monument.  The  inscription  is 
mutilated,  and  is  obscure  in  many  places  ;  still  it 
yields  valuable  information  in  regard  to  the  early 
religion  of  Syria. 

In  744,  a  year  after  Tiglath-pileser  usurped  the 
throne,  the  long  and  glorious  reign  of  Jeroboam  II. 
came  to  an  end,  and  Zechariah,  his  son,  ruled  in  his 
stead.  At  the  end  of  six  months  he  was  murdered  by 
Shallum,  and  a  month  later  Shallum  was  slain  by  Mena- 
hem,  a  Gadite,  and,  therefore,  probably  a  leader  of 
the  anti-Ararnsean  party.  Menahem  managed  to  keep 
himself  on  the  throne  for  the  next  ten  years,  but  only 
by  exercising  barbarous  severity  toward  his  opponents. 

1  Lidzbarski,  Randbuch,  p.  440,  plate  XXII.  ,  Miiller,  Contempo- 
rary Review,  April,  L894,  p.  572.     P'or  other  literature  see  p  xxxv. 


232  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

The  city  of  Tiphsah  (Tappuah  ?),  which  refused  to 
open  to  him,  he  razed,  and  ripped  up  its  pregnant 
women.1  Israel  was  rent  into  hostile  parties,  one 
favouring  an  alliance  with  Damascus ;  another,  with 
Assyria ;  and  a  third,  with  Mutsri  (North  Arabia). 
Civil  war  raged,  and  the  nation  was  so  weakened 
that  it  was  certain  to  fall  before  the  first  onset  of  the 
Assyrians. 

The  decline  of  Israel  brought  for  a  season  increased 
prosperity  to  Judah.  For  the  first  time  since  the 
reign  of  Jehoshaphat  it  ceased  to  be  a  vassal. 
Uzziah  was  smitten  with  leprosy  in  the  later  years  of 
his  reign,2  but  his  son  Jotham  was  associated  with 
him  in  the  government  and  seems  to  have  been  a  wise 
and  successful  ruler.  The  exact  year  of  his  death  we 
unfortunately  do  not  know.  If,  as  suggested  above, 
we  give  Amaziah  nine  instead  of  twenty -nine  years, 
he  must  have  died  in  739.  This  agrees  well  with  the 
statement  of  Isa.  vi.  1.  Of  Jotham's  reign  the  Book 
of  Kings  records  only  that  he  built  the  upper  gate  of 
the  temple,3  but  the  Chronicle,  which  evidently  rests 
here  upon  ancient  sources,  narrates  also  that  he  built 
the  wall  of  Ophel  and  that  he  erected  strongholds 
throughout  the  land  of  Judah.  He  also  defeated  the 
Ammonites  and  exacted  from  them  100  talents  of  sil- 
ver, 1,000  measures  of  wheat,  and  10,000  measures  of 
barley  as  an  annual  tribute.4  The  early  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  show  that  the  prosperity  inaugurated  by 
his  father  continued  throughout  the  whole  of  his  own 
reign.     "  Their  land  is  full  of  silver  and  gold,  neither 

1  2  Kings  xv.  8-18.  2  2  Kings  xv.  5. 

3  2  Kings  xv.  35.  4  2  Chron.  xxvii.  3-6. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  233 

is  there  any  end  of  their  treasures  ;  their  land  also 
is  full  of  horses,  neither  is  there  any  end  of  their 
chariots."  ' 

In  739  Tiglath-pileser  invaded  Armenia  and  an- 
nexed a  portion  of  it  to  Assyria.  The  following  year 
he  made  a  campaign  against  Patin  a  in  North  Syria. 
A  certain  Azriyau  of  the  land  of  Yaudi  had  insti- 
gated a  revolt,  into  which  he  had  drawn  nineteen 
districts  of  Hamath.  This  Azriyau  of  Yaudi  has 
long  been  identified  with  Azariah  (Uzziah)  of  Yehuda 
(Judah),  but  since  Host's  publication  of  a  more 
correct  text  of  the  inscriptions,3  and  since  the  inves- 
tigations of  Winckler,1  this  identification  has  become 
an  impossibility.  The  centre  of  Azriyau's  revolt  was 
Kullani,5  a  city  which  is  mentioned  in  the  Eponym 
List  as  the  goal  of  the  expedition  in  738.  This  was 
occupied  by  Azriyau  himself,  and  here  he  fought 
against  Tiglath-pileser.  With  his  defeat  the  coali- 
tion at  once  fell  to  pieces,  and  the  nineteen  districts 
of  Hamath  were  easily  subdued.  Now  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  Azariah  of  Judah,  who,  according  to 
2  Kings  xv.  5,  was  a  leper  during  the  latter  part  of 
his  reign  and  dwelt  apart,  should  have  led  an  army  in 
person  through  the  independent  states  of  Israel, 
Damascus,  and  Hamath  as  far  as  Kullani  in  North 
Syria,  and  there  have  headed  a  revolt  against  the  king 
of  Assyria.  It  is  very  doubtful,  moreover,  whether 
Azariah  was  alive   as  late  as  738,  since  in  734  his 

1  Isa.  ii.  7.  5  See  p.  200. 

3  Rost,  Tiglat-Pileser,  Annals,  lines  103-133. 

4  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  i.  1,  1-23. 

5  Perhaps  the  Calno  of  Isa.  x.  'J. 


234  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

grandson  Ahaz  was  already  on  the  throne,  and  since 
some  time  must  be  allowed  for  the  sole  reign  of  his 
son  Jotham.  Accordingly,  we  must  follow  Winckler 
in  regarding  Azriyau,  not  as  the  king  of  Judah,  but 
as  the  king  of  a  North  Syrian  state  by  the  name  of 
Yaudi. 

The  existence  of  such  a  state  has  been  proved  by 
the  recent  discovery  in  Zenjirli  and  its  vicinity  of 
Aramaic  inscriptions  of  the  time  of  Tiglath-pileser 
erected  by  kings  who  style  themselves  "  King  of  Ya'di 
(or,  as  it  may  be  read,  Ya'udi)." *  Yaudi,  accord- 
ingly, was  a  small  district  of  the  land  of  Patin,  and 
lay  between  the  kingdoms  of  Sam'al  and  Unqi.  That 
a  king  of  Yaudi  should  have  exactly  the  same  name 
as  a  contemporary  king  of  Yehuda  (Assyrian  Yaudu) 
is  a  surprising  coincidence  ;  but  seems,  nevertheless, 
to  be  an  established  fact. 

The  divine  name  Yahu  (Yahweh)  as  an  element  of 
proper  names  was  not  limited  to  the  Israelites,  but 
was  known  also  to  their  Syrian  neighbours,  as  is 
proved  by  the  name  Yau-bi'di  (Ilu-bi'di)  borne  by  a 
king  of  Hamath  in  the  time  of  Sargon.2 

The  states  which  had  joined  Azriyau  in  his  revolt, 
Tiglath-pileser  deprived  of  autonomy  and  formed  into 
an  Assyrian  province,  which  he  placed  under  the  rule 
of  his  son  Shalmaneser.  A  large  number  of  the 
inhabitants  he  transported  to  Armenia,  and  in  their 
place  he  settled  30,000  Armenians  whom  he  had  con- 
quered in  the  campaign  of  the  year  739.  The  kings 
of  Syria,  seeing  Tiglath-pileser's  success,  sent  mes- 
sengers bearing  their  tribute.  Among  these  are  men- 
1  See  pp.  231,  23G.  2  See  p.  246. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  235 

tionetl  Rezon  of  Damascus,  Menahem  of  Samaria, 
Hiram  of  Tyre,  Sibitti-Baal  of  Gebal,  Pisiris  of  Car- 
chemish,  Inilu  of  Hamath,  Panammu  of  Sam'al,  and 
Tarldiulara  of  Gurgum.  The  princes  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  Zabibi,  queen  of  Aribi  (Arabia  in  a  restricted 
sense),  also  sent  their  presents. 

With  this  payment  of  tribute  by  Menahem  is  usu- 
ally combined  the  statement  of  2  Kings  xv.  19  that 
Pul,  king  of  Assyria,  came  against  the  land,  and  that 
Menahem  gave  him  1,000  talents  of  silver  to  confirm 
him  in  his  kingdom.  Pul  is  the  name  under  which  in 
729  Tiglath-pileser  ascended  the  throne  of  Babylon. 
It  does  not  appear  from  his  Annals  that  he  advanced 
so  far  south  as  is  implied  in  the  statement  of  the 
Book  of  Kings.  Perhaps,  seeing  that  Menahem  was 
tardy  in  payment,  he  despatched  a  portion  of  his  army 
against  him  ;  or  the  statement  of  Kings  may  mean  no 
more  than  that  Menahem  feared  an  attack,  and  bought 
Tiglath-pileser  off  while  he  was  still  in  Northern 
Syria.  He  raised  the  1,000  talents  by  assessing 
50  shekels  upon  every  land-owner.  This  implies 
the  existence  of  60,000  men  of  means,  a  large  number 
for  so  small  a  country  as  Israel. 

Panammu  of  Sam'al,  who  paid  tribute  at  the  same 
time  as  Menahem,  has  recently  become  famous  through 
the  discovery  of  inscriptions  of  his  son  Bar-Bekub  in 
the  cemetery  of  Takhtal y  Bunar  and  in  the  mound  of 
Zenjirli.  In  the  first  of  these  inscriptions  Bar-Kekub 
states  that  the  house  of  his  father  Panammu,  son  of 
Bar-Tsur,  was  cut  off  by  Panammu,  son  of  Karal,1  but 
that  he  applied  to  Tiglath-pileser  for  aid,  and  was 
'  See  p.  230. 


23G  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

installed  by  him  upon  the  throne  of  his  father.  He 
then  attended  the  Assyrian  king  on  his  campaigns, 
and  when  he  died  during  the  siege  of  Damascus  was 
buried  with  military  honours.  The  portion  of  the 
inscription  which  refers  to  Panammu *  reads  as 
follows : 

"  Bar-Rekub  has  erected  this  monument  for  his  father, 
Panammu,  the  son  of  Bar-Tsuv,  king  of  Ya'udi,  (in  memory  of) 
the  year  of  (the  escape  of)  my  father  Panammu  (from  the  fate 
of)  his  father.  The  gods  of  Ya'udi  delivered  him  from  the 
destruction  that  befell  the  house  of  his  father,  and  his  god 
Hadad  helped  him  (and  established)  his  throne.  (A  conspira- 
tor arose)  and  wrought  destruction  in  the  house  of  his  fathers. 
And  he  slew  Bar-Tsur,  his  father,  and  seventy  (men)  the 
brethren  of  his  father.  .  .  .  And  verily  with  the  rest  of 
them  he  filled  the  prisons,  and  he  made  the  ruined  cities 
more  numerous  than  the  inhabited  ones.  .  .  .  (And  the 
god  Hadad  said  :  "  Because)  ye  have  brought  a  sword  into  my 
house,  and  have  slain  one  of  my  sons,  I  also  will  bring  a  sword 
into  the  land  of  Ya'udi  .  .  .  against  Panammu,  son  of  Karal 
.  .  .  and  grain,  durra,  wheat,  and  barley  were  destroyed ; 
and  a  peres  (of  wheat)  cost  a  shekel,  and  a  shatrab  (of  barley) 
cost  a  shekel,  and  an  asnab  of  drink,  a  shekel.  And  my  father 
brought  (tribute)  to  the  king  of  Assyria ;  and  he  made  him 
king  over  the  house  of  his  father,  and  removed  (?)  the  stone  of 
destruction  from  the  house  of  his  father.  (And  he  brought 
out)  from  distress  the  gods  of  Ya'udi  from.  .  .  .  And  he 
opened  the  prisons,  and  set  at  liberty  the  prisoners  of  Ya'udi. 
And  my  father  rose  up  and  released  the  women  of  .  .  . 
the  house  of  the  slain  and  the  .  .  .  (And  he  rebuilt)  the 
house  of  his  father  and  made  it  more  beautiful  than  at  the 
first.     And   wheat,  and  barley,   and  grain,  and   durra  were 

1  Panammu  Inscription,  lines  1-15.  The  translation  is  made 
from  the  text  of  Lidzbarksi,  Handbuch,  p.  442;  plate  XXIII. 
Passages  in  parentheses  are  conjectural  restorations. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPKEMACY  237 

abundant  in  his  days.  Then  food  and  drink  (were  plentiful) 
.  .  .  were  sold  cheaply  (?).  And  in  the  days  of  my  father 
Panammu,  verily  he  (Tiglath-pileser)  appointed  masters  of  the 
towns  and  masters  of  the  chariots,  but  my  father  Panammu 
he  seated  among  the  kings  of  Kebar  (?).  (Although)  my 
father  (was  not)  either  a  possessor  of  silver  or  a  possessor  of 
gold,  yet  in  his  wisdom  and  in  his  righteousness  ho  held  to 
the  side  of  his  lord,  the  king  of  Assyria.  (And  the  king  of) 
Assyria  (set  him  over)  the  prefects  and  the  brethren  of  Ya'udi ; 
and  his  lord,  the  king  of  Assyria,  showed  him  favour  above  the 
kings  of  Kebar  (?).  .  .  .  (And  he  ran)  by  the  wheel  of  his 
lord,  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria,  (when  he  pitched)  his 
camp  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  unto  its  setting.  (And  Tiglath- 
pileser  conquered)  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  ;  and  the 
daughters  (populations)  of  the  sunrise  he  carried  to  the  sun- 
set, and  the  daughters  of  the  sunset  he  carried  to  the  sunrise. 
And  my  father  .  .  .  and  his  lord,  Tiglath-pileser,  king 
of  Assyria,  added  to  his  territory  cities  of  the  territory  of 
Gurgurn.  .  .  .  And  my  father  Panammu  son  of  Bar- 
Tsur.     .    .     ." 

Having  reduced  Northern  Syria  to  submission,  Tig- 
lath-pileser spent  the  years  737-735  in  campaigns 
against  Media  and  Armenia.  Meanwhile  in  735 
'Menahem  died  and  his  son  Pekahiah  succeeded  him. 
Menahem's  payment  of  tribute  to  the  Assyrians  had 
made  his  dynasty  unpopular,  and  within  a  year  Pekah- 
iah was  assassinated  by  Pekah,  son  of  Kemaliah,  a 
representative  of  the  party  that  favoured  alliance  with 
Damascus.1  His  first  act  was  to  make  a  treaty  with 
Rezon,2  king  of  Damascus,  in  company  with  the 
Philistines   and   Tyrians   to   revolt  against  Tiglath- 

1  2  Kings  xv.  21-25. 

2  In  view  of  the  Assyrian  records  this  spelling  of  the  name  is 
preferable  to  Rezin  of  the  Book  of  Kings. 


238  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

pileser.  The  allies  were  anxious  that  Judah  also 
should  enter  the  coalition ;  and  when  Jotham  refused, 
Rezon  and  Pekah  invaded  his  land.1 

While  the  Syro-Ephraimitic  war  was  in  progress 
Jotham  died,  and  his  son  Ahaz  succeeded  him.  He 
was  unfortunate  in  all  that  he  undertook ;  his  army- 
was  defeated,  his  cities  were  destroyed,  and  many  of 
his  people  were  taken  captive.  At  last  the  allies 
marched  against  Jerusalem  with  the  intention  of 
breaking  down  its  wall  and  of  deposing  Ahaz.2  The 
situation  was  desperate,  and  at  this  crisis  Ahaz  ap- 
parently sacrificed  his  son  to  propitiate  the  deity,3  as 
Mesha,  king  of  Moab,  had  done  under  similar  circum- 
stances.4 The  Edomites,  taking  advantage  of  Judah's 
reverses,  revolted  and  recovered  the  port  of  Elath, 
which  from  this  time  onward  they  retained.5  The 
Philistines  also  invaded  the  south  and  captured  a 
number  of  towns.6  There  was  nothing  left  for  Ahaz 
but  to  make  an  appeal  to  Tiglath-pileser.  "And 
Ahaz  sent  messengers  to  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  As- 
syria, saying,  I  am  thy  servant  and  thy  son :  come  up 
and  save  me  out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria,  and 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Israel,  which  rise  up 
against  me.  And  Ahaz  took  the  silver  and  gold  that 
was  found  in  the  house  of  Yahweh,  and  in  the  treas- 
ures of  the  king's  house,  and  sent  it  for  a  present  to 
the  king  of  Assyria."  7 

1  2  Chron.  xxviii.  5-15;  2  Kings  xvi.  5;  Isa.  vii.  1  f. 

2  Isa.  vii.  6.  3  2  Kings  xvi.  3.  4  See  p.  213. 

B  2  Chron.  xxviii.  17  ;  2  Kings  xvi.  6.  Here  Edom  should  be  read 
instead  of  Aram.  Rezin  is  a  gloss  that  has  come  into  the  text  in 
consequence  of  the  reading  Aram. 

6  2  Chron.  xxviii.  18.  '  2  Kings  xvi.  7  f. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  239 

Tiglath-pileser  was  only  too  glad  of  an  excuse  to 
interfere  in  Palestinian  politics.  He  marched  at  once 
to  the  rescue  of  Ahaz ;  and  the  allies,  hearing  of  his 
coming,  were  obliged  to  leave  Jerusalem  and  to  put 
themselves  on  the  defence.  He  advanced  through 
Syria,  ravaging  as  he  went ;  but  he  did  not  stop  to 
besiege  Damascus.  In  Israel  he  took  Ijon,  Abel- 
beth-maachah,  Janoah,  Kadesh,  Hazor,  Gilead,  Gali- 
lee, and  all  the  land  of  Naphtali,  and  carried  their  in- 
habitants into  captivity.1  Then  pressing  on  toward 
t'he  south,  he  invaded  Philistia.  Hanno,  king  of  Gaza, 
did  not  wait  for  his  coining,  but  fled  into  Mutsri  (prob- 
ably North  Arabia  rather  than  Egypt).'  Thither 
Tiglath-pileser  pursued  him,  and  having  conquered 
its  northern  districts,  appointed  a  certain  Idi-bi'il 
as  their  governor.  Upon  this  the  princes  of  Syria 
once  more  brought  their  presents.  Tiglath-pileser 
names  as  tributaries  Matan-Baal  of  Arvad,  Sanipu 
of  Ammon,  Salamanu  of  Moab,  Mitinti  of  Ashkelon, 
Yaukhazi  (Ahaz)  of  Yauda  (Judah),  Qaush-malak 
of  Edom.3  Pekah  seems  to  have  shut  himself  up 
in  Samaria  and,  like  Rezin,  to  have  escaped  for  the 
present. 

The  following  year  (733)  Tiglath-pileser  began  the 
siege  of  Damascus.4  Fearing  that  Samaria's  turn 
would  come  next,  the  adherents  of  the  Assyrian  party 

1  2  Kings  xv.  29.  By  some  historians  these  events  are  assigned 
to  the  year  733  instead  of  734,  but  chronological  considerations  in 
regard  to  the  probable  year  of  Ahaz's  accession  lead  me  to  prefer 
734. 

*J  Winckler,  Altorient.  Forschungen,  l.  1,  p.  24  f. 

3  Rost,  pp   79,  71-73. 

*  Eponym  Canon  for  the  year  733. 


24:0  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

slew  Pekah  and  made  Hoshea  king.1  He  at  once  sub- 
mitted to  Assyria  and  was  confirmed  in  the  kingdom 
by  Tiglatk-pileser.  The  Assyrian  version  of  this  in- 
cident reads  as  follows  :  "  Pekah,  their  king,  they  over- 
threw ;  and  Hoshea  I  appointed  (to  the  sovereignty) 
over  them.  Ten  talents  of  gold  .  .  .  talents  of 
silver,  I  received  and  brought  them  to  Assyria." 2 
The  fall  of  Samaria  was  thus  postponed  for  a  few 
years. 

Meanwhile  the  siege  of  Damascus  went  on.  Rezon 
was  shut  in  "  like  a  bird  in  a  cage."  His  gardens 
and  parks  were  destroyed,  his  smaller  towns  were  re- 
duced to  heaps  of  rubbish,  and  their  inhabitants  were 
impaled  on  stakes  about  the  walls  of  the  capital.3  In 
the  progress  of  this  siege  Panammu,  son  of  Bar-Tsur, 
who  was  assisting  Tiglath-pileser  with  his  troops,  died. 
An  account  of  his  last  honours  is  preserved  in  the  con- 
cluding portion  of  the  inscription  of  Bar-Kekub : 4 

"Moreover  my  father  Panammu  died  while  following  his 
lord,  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria,  in  the  camp.  .  .  . 
And  the  heir  of  the  kingdom  bewailed  him,  and  all  the  camp 
of  his  lord,  the  king  of  Assyria,  bewailed  him.  And  his  lord, 
the  king  of  Assyria,  (afflicted)  his  soul,  and  held  a  weeping  for 
him  on  the  way ;  and  he  brought  my  father  from  Damascus  to 
this  place.  In  my  days  (he  was  buried),  and  all  his  house  (be- 
wailed) him.     And  I,  Bar-Rekub,  son  of  Panammu,  because  of 

1  2  Kings  xv.  30.  The  Book  of  Kings  assigns  Pekah  a  reign  of 
twenty  years,  but  this  is  manifestly  a  mistake,  since  Menahem  is 
mentioned  by  Tiglath-pileser  in  738  and  Hoshea  in  733,  or  730  at 
the  latest.     Twenty  is  probably  a  mistake  for  two. 

2  Rost,  p.  81,  line  17  f. 

3  Annals,  197-209. 

4  Panammu  Inscription,  16-23.     See  p.  236. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SI   I'KCMACY  241 

the  righteousness  of  my  father,  and  because  of  my  righteous- 
ness, my  lord,  (the  king  of  Assyria),  seated  (upon  the  throne) 
of  my  father,  Panammu,  son  of  Bar-Tsur  ;  and  I  have  erected 
this  monument  for  my  father,  Panammu,  son  of  Bar-Tsur,  and 
I  have  built  .  .  .  before  the  grave  of  my  father,  Panam- 
mu. And  as  for  this  monument,  may  Hadad  and  'El,  and 
Kekub-'el,  the  Baal  of  the  house,  and  Shemesh,  and  all  the 
gods  of  Ya'udi,  (curse  anyone  who  injures  it)  before  gods  and 
before  men." 

From  this  we  gathor  that  Panammu  must  have  died 
about  732,  and  that  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Bar- 
Rekub,  who  followed  his  father's  policy  of  adhering 
to  Assyria.  Another  inscription  that  throws  light 
upon  his  relation  to  Tiglath-pileser,  and  that  explains 
how  he  obtained  funds  to  erect  a  monument  to  his  fa- 
ther and  to  build  a  mausoleum  for  the  kings  of  Ya'udi, 
was  found  in  1891  at  Zenjirli.1     It  reads  as  follows  : 

"I  am  Bar-Rekub,  son  of  Panammu,  king  of  Sam'al,  ser- 
vant of  Tiglath-pileser,  lord  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth. 
Because  of  the  righteousness  of  my  father,  and  because  of  my 
righteousness,  my  lord  Rekub-'el  and  my  lord  Tiglath-pileser 
seated  me  on  the  throne  of  my  father.  And  the  hoxise  of  my 
father  was  destitute  (?)  of  everything,  but  I  ran  by  the  wheel 
of  my  lord,  the  king  of  Assyria,  among  great  kings,  possessors 
of  silver  and  possessors  of  gold.  And  I  have  undertaken  (to 
build)  the  house  of  my  father,  and  have  made  it  more  beauti- 
ful than  the  house  of  any  one  of  the  great  kings.  And  my 
brethren  the  kings  have  envied  (?)  all  the  beauty  of  my  house  ; 
and  through  me  its  beauty  is  such  as  my  fathers,  the  kings  of 
Sam'al,  never  had.  It  is  a  house  of  rest  (?)  for  them,  and  it  is 
a  winter-house  for  them,  and  it  is  a  summer-house ;  and  I 
have  built  this  house." 

1  Litlzbarski,  p.  443  ;  plate  XXIV.  ;  Winckler,  MitteiL  d.  vor~ 
deras.  Gesell.,  1896,  4,  p.  22. 


24:2  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

In  732  Damascus  fell.  Rezon  was  slain,  a  multi- 
tude of  his  people  were  deported  to  Kir,  and  his 
kingdom  became  an  Assyrian  province.  Mitinna, 
king  of  Tyre,  seeing  that  his  ally  was  defeated,  has- 
tened to  make  peace  with  Assyria  by  the  payment  of 
150  talents  of  gold.  Mitinti  of  Ashkelon,  who  had 
trusted  that  Damascus  would  prove  strong  enough  to 
withstand  Tiglath-pileser,  on  hearing  of  its  fall  lost 
his  reason,  and  had  to  be  deposed  in  favour  of  his  son 
Rukibtu.  The  whole  of  Syria  and  Palestine  now  lay 
at  the  feet  of  Tiglath-pileser.  In  Damascus  he  held 
court,  and  thither  went  up  all  the  conquered  princes 
to  offer  their  congratulations  and  their  presents. 
Among  them  came  Ahaz  of  Judah,  and  on  his  return 
he  brought  back  the  design  of  an  Assyrian  altar, 
which  he  erected  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  Now 
that  he  was  an  Assyrian  subject,  he  must  pay  his 
homage  to  Ashur,  the  god  of  his  conqueror.1 

During  the  next  six  years  the  small  nations  of 
"Western  Asia  enjoyed  peace.  Tiglath-pileser  was 
busy  with  the  subjugation  of  Babylonia,  and  made 
no  expeditions  into  Syria.  The  kings  had  learned  a 
lesson,  and  paid  their  tribute  promptly.2  All  was 
quiet  until  the  year  727,  when  Tiglath-pileser  died 
and  his  son  Shalmaneser  IV.  came  to  the  throne.3 
Then,  as  was  to  be  expected,  revolt  broke  out  in  va- 
rious parts  of  the  empire.     Hoshea  made  an  alliance 

1  Annals,  235  ff.  ;  Clay  Tablet  Inscription,  rev.  16 ;  2  Kings  xvi. 
9-16. 

8  This  is  stated  expressly  of  Hoshea  in  2  Kings  xvii.  4. 

3  Our  only  Assyrian  source  for  the  reign  of  Shalmaneser  IV.  is 
the  Eponyrn  Canon, 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  243 

with  Sewe  (So),  king  of  Mitsrim,  and  refused  to  pay- 
tribute.1  Sewe,  king  of  Mitsrim,  has  until  recently 
been  identified  with  Shabako,  king  of  Egypt ;  but 
there  are  many  objections  to  this  view.  The  two 
names  do  not  correspond  ;  Sewe  is  called  king,  and 
not  Pharaoh  ;  and  it  is  now  quite  certain  that  Sha- 
bako did  not  come  to  the  throne  as  early  as  727.  For 
these  reasons  Winckler  conjectures  that  Sewe  is  the 
same  person  as  Sib'i,  the  turtan  (general)  of  Pir'u, 
king  of  Mutsri,  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  of  Sar- 
gon.  Mutsri  is  not  Egypt,  but  the  North  Arabian 
land  that  we  have  met  several  times  before  in  this 
history.  The  Arabians  had  already  come  into  con- 
flict with  Tiglath-pileser,  but  the  Egyptians  had  not ; 
and  the  Assyrian  conquests  in  Philistia  interfered 
more  seriously  with  Arabian  than  with  Egyptian 
commerce.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  Winckler's  view 
commends  itself  as  probable  ; 2  and  if  it  be  true,  we 
must  interpret  a  number  of  utterances  of  the  proph- 
ets Hosea  and  Isaiah  as  referring  to  Mutsrim  rather 
than  Mitsrim,  that  is,  to  Arabia  rather  than  to  Egypt. 
The  power  of  Egypt  at  this  time  was  at  a  low  ebb, 
and  not  until  the  founding  of  a  new  Ethiopian  dy- 
nasty by  Shabako  did  she  regain  a  place  of  influence 
among  the  nations.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
many  reasons  to  believe  that  the  South  Arabian  Mi- 
nsean  kingdom  still  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  wealth 
and  prosperity.  Now  that  Damascus  had  fallen,  it 
was  the  natural  leader  of  the  West  Asiatic  peoples 
against  Assyria. 

1  2  Kings  xvii.  1. 

2  It  has  found  the  approval  of  Benzinger,  Gutbe,  and  Cheyne. 


244  SYKIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Other  Syrian  princes  besides  Hoshea  doubtless 
went  into  the  alliance,  although  we  have  no  record 
to  this  effect,  and  Shalmaneser  saw  himself  compelled 
to  reconquer  the  lands  that  had  been  subdued  by  his 
father.  The  year  726  was  spent  in  establishing  his 
authority  at  home,  but  the  following  year  he  proba- 
bly invaded  Syria.  Josephus  J  cites  Menander,  the 
Tyrian  chronicler,  as  authority  for  an  attack  of  Shal- 
maneser on  Tyre.  His  words  are  as  follows  :  "  Elu- 
laios  (Luli  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions)  .  .  . 
ruled  thirty -six  (twenty-six)  years.  He  subdued  the 
people  of  Kittium  (in  Cyprus),  when  they  revolted. 
In  his  day  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  overran  the 
whole  of  Phoenicia ;  and  then  marched  away,  after  he 
had  made  treaties  and  peace  with  all."  2  From  this 
it  appears  that  Shalmaneser,  although  he  did  not 
capture  Tyre,  at  least  compelled  it  to  pay  tribute. 

In  724  he  encountered  Hoshea,  defeated  him,  and 
took  him  prisoner.3  Then  began  a  three-year  siege 
of  Samaria.  Before  it  was  finished,  Shalmaneser 
died,  and  Sargon,4  a  usurper,  seized  the  throne. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  Samaria  fell,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  came  to  an  end.     Twenty-seven 

1  Antiquities,  ix.  14,  2. 

2  The  remainder  of  the  account  of  Menander,  as  has  been  shown 
by  Landau,  Beitrdge,  i.  9  ff. ,  and  by  Winckler,  Altorient.  Forsch- 
linger),  ii.  1,  C5  ff.,  refers  to  the  times  of  Sennacherib  and  of  Esar- 
haddon. 

3  2  Kings  xvii.  5.  Some  historians  hold  that  Hoshea  was  not  capt- 
ured until  the  fall  of  Samaria  in  722. 

4  The  inscriptions  of  Sargon  have  been  edited,  transcribed,  and 
translated  most  recently  by  Winckler,  Die  Keilschrifttexte  Sargons, 
1889. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  245 

thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  people,  the  flower 
of  the  nation,  were  carried  into  captivity,  and  were 
settled  in  the  Mesopotamian  province  of  Gozan  and 
in  Media.  Their  place  was  rilled  in  721  by  Aramaeans 
transported  from  Babylonia  ;  and  in  G47,  Ashurbani- 
pal  settled  other  colonists  brought  from  Babylon, 
Kutha,  Sippar,  Susa,  and  Elarn.1  The  northern 
kingdom  became  an  Assyrian  province,  with  Samaria 
as  the  residence  of  its  governor.  Judah  continued  to 
pay  tribute  and,  therefore,  for  the  present  was  left 
unmolested.  To  the  payment  of  this  tribute  Sargon 
probably  refers  when  he  calls  himself  "  Conqueror  of 
the  land  of  Yaudu,  whose  location  is  distant." 2  It  is 
possible,  however,  that  he  means  the  North  Syrian 
land  of  Yaudi.3 

The  year  721  was  occupied  with  conflicts  in  Baby- 
lonia. Merodach-baladan,  a  Chaldean  prince  of  Bit- 
Yakin  on  the  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  took  advan- 
tage of  the  death  of  Shalmaneser  and  the  disturbances 
incidental  to  Sargon's  accession  to  form  an  offensive 
and  defensive  alliance  with  the  Elamites,  and  finally 
to  seize  the  throne  of  Babylon.4  Sargon,  as  soon  as 
he  had  restored  order  at  home,  attacked  him  and  his 
ally  Khumbanigash,  but  with  little  success.  Both 
sides  claimed  a  victory,  but  both  retreated  immedi- 
ately after  the  battle. 

1  2  Kings  xvii.  6;  xviii.  11;  xvii.  24;  Ezra  iv.  2,  8-10.  Winck- 
ler,  Keilsckrifttexte  Sargons,  p.  4,  line  11;  p.  100,  line  23  f . ;  p. 
148,  line  31. 

2  Nimrud  Inscription,  8 ;  Winckler,  Sargon,  p.  168  f. 
8  See  p.  234. 

4  Bab.  Chronicle,  i.  32;  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  ii.  276  f . ; 
Cylinder  Inscription,  1,  17;    Keilinschr   BibL,  ii.  40  f. 


246  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

The  rise  of  Merodach-baladan  inspired  the  Syrian 
states  once  more  with  a  desire  for  independence  and 
in  720  a  new  coalition  was  formed,  the  prime  movers 
in  which  were  Yau-bi'di  of  Hamath,  Hanno  of  Gaza, 
and  Sib'i,  the  turian  of  Mutsri.  They  were  joined  by 
Arpad,  Simyra,  Damascus,  and  Samaria.  Yau-bi'di 
was  an  upstart,  who  had  come  to  the  throne  of  Hamath 
in  consequence  of  a  revolt  of  the  national  party  against 
Ini-ilu  (Eni-el),  a  partisan  of  Assyria.  Hanno  was 
the  king  whom  Tiglath-pileser  had  hunted  out  of 
Gaza,  and  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Mutsri.  Now  we 
find  him  back  in  Gaza,  whither  he  had  been  restored, 
presumably,  by  the  arms  of  Sib'i.  Sib'i,  the  turtan 
of  Pir'u,  king  of  Mutsri,  is,  as  we  have  seen,1  not  the 
king  of  Egypt  (Mitsri),  but  the  ruler  of  a  district  of 
Northwest  Arabia,  of  which  Pir'u,  whose  capital  lay 
farther  south,  was  the  over-lord.  The  name  Pir'u 
has  nothing  to  do  with  Pharaoh,  but  is  the  personal 
name  of  the  Arabian  sovereign. 

"Whether  Merodach-baladan  of  Babylon  had  a  hand 
in  this  rebellion  is  uncertain.  A  number  of  critics 
assign  to  this  time  his  embassy  to  Hezekiah  recorded 
in  2  Kings  xx.  12-19,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
Hezekiah  came  to  the  throne  as  early  as  720.  Those 
who  follow  the  synchronism  in  2  Kings  xviii.  9  place 
the  beginning  of  his  reign  in  727,  and  those  who 
follow  the  synchronism  in  2  Kings  xviii.  13  place 
it  in  714.  Both  synchronisms,  however,  can  be  shown 
to  rest  upon  editorial  calculation  of  the  data  of  the 
original  records,  and  neither  has  greater  historical 
value  than  the  rest  of  the  synchronisms  in  the  Book 
1  Page  243. 


THE    A.SSYKIAN    SUPREMA(  X  247 

of  Kings.  Under  these  circumstances  the  best  that 
we  can  do  is  to  calculate  on  the  basis  of  the  recorded 
lengths  of  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  Judah.  Ahaz, 
it  is  generally  conceded,  came  to  the  throne  in  734. 
Between  this  date  and  58G,  when  Jerusalem  fell,  is  an 
interval  of  148  }rears.  If  we  assume  that  the  last 
year  of  one  king  was  also  the  first  year  of  his  next 
successor,  that  is,  if  we  subtract  1  from  the  recorded 
lengths  of  each  of  the  reigns  from  Ahaz  to  Zedekiah, 
the  sum  total  is  the  same,  148.  This  is  strong  evi- 
dence in  support  of  the  accuracy  of  the  traditional 
figures.  If  they  be  followed,  Hezekiah  began  to 
reign  in  719,  too  late,  therefore,  to  have  joined  the 
alliance  in  720.  In  720  Judah  apparently  remained 
loyal,  since  there  is  no  mention  either  in  the  He- 
brew or  in  the  Assyrian  records  of  a  revolt  or  of  an 
Assyrian  invasion.  If  Ahaz,  the  friend  of  Assyria, 
was  still  on  the  throne,  this  loyalty  is  easily  ex- 
plained. 

As  soon  as  Sargon  heard  of  the  rising  he  marched 
into  Syria  ;  and  before  the  allies  had  time  to  unite 
their  forces,  defeated  Yau-bi'di  at  Qarqar,  captured 
him,  and  flayed  him  alive.  Hamath  submitted,  and 
furnished  a  levy  of  chariots  and  horsemen  to  fight 
against  its  former  allies.1  Sargon  then  pushed  south- 
ward to  meet  Hanno  and  Sib'i,  who  were  the  prime 
movers  in  the  revolt.  At  Kapikhu  (Kaphia)  in  South- 
ern Philistia  a  great  battle  was  fought  which  resulted 
in  victory  for  the  Assyrians.  Hanno  was  taken  pris- 
oner, and  Sib'i  fled  back  into  Arabia.  Thereupon 
Pir'u,  king  of  Mutsri ;  Samse,  queen  of  Arabia ;  and 

1  General  Inscription,  33-36;  Winckler,  Sargon,  pp.  102-105. 


248  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Itamara,1  tlie  Sabsean,  bought  Sargon  off  from  further 
advance  by  sending  him  presents  of  gold,  products  of 
the  mountains,  and  camels.3  The  combination  of 
Mutsri  with  Arabia  and  Sabyea  in  this  passage  is 
alone  sufficient  to  prove  that  Mutsri  is  not  Egypt  and 
that  Pir'u  is  not  Pharaoh.  All  Syria  now  submitted 
to  Sargon.  The  rebels  were  punished  with  loss  of 
privileges  and  with  heavier  impositions.  The  kings 
were  deposed,  and  Assyrian  partisans  were  appointed 
in  their  places.  Thus  the  prestige  of  Assyria  was 
once  more  restored. 

The  period  from  719  to  712  was  occupied  chiefly 
with  the  subjugation  of  the  northern  peoples  from 
Lake  Urumia  on  the  east  to  Phrygia  on  the  west. 
Here  Rusa,  king  of  Armenia,  was  the  chief  disturber 
of  the  peace.  In  the  main  Sargon  was  successful 
against  him,  but  the  conquest  of  this  region  cost 
him  much  trouble.  The  captives  were  deported  in 
part  to  Syria,  and  were  settled  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Hamath.  In  715  there  was  war  with  some  of  the 
Arabian  tribes,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  Pir'u  of 
Mutsri,  Samse  of  Arabia,  and  Itamara  of  Sheba  once 
more  paid  tribute.  The  captive  Arabians  Sargon 
settled  in  the  district  of  Samaria,  to  compensate 
in  part  for  the  people  that  he  had  recently  de- 
ported. The  only  Syrian  state  to  revolt  during  this 
period  was  Carchemish,  the  old  Hittite  stronghold, 
which  in  717  made  an  alliance  with  Mita,  king  of 

1  The  identification  of  this  king  with  Yatha'amir  of  the  Sabaean 
inscriptions  by  Lenormant  has  furnished  a  basis  for  the  dating  of 
these  inscriptions. 

2  General  Inscription,  25-27 ;  Winckler,  Sargon,  p.  100  f. 


TIIK    ASSYRIAN    SUPEEMACY  249 

Muski.1  Sargon  promptly  chastised  it,  carrying  away 
captive  its  king  Pisiris,  and  transforming  it  into  an 
Ass}rrian  province. 

In  711  there  was  a  more  formidable  insurrection 
in  the  South.  Pir'u,  king  of  Mutsri,  again  encour- 
aged the  Philistines  to  believe  that  he  would  help 
them,  and  on  the  strength  of  this  hope  Ashdod  re- 
volted. Here  a  certain  Akhimiti  had  been  appointed 
king  by  Sargon  in  720  in  the  place  of  his  brother 
Azuri.  Him  the  people  deposed,  and  made  Yatna, 
who  is  also  described  as  Yamani,  that  is  a  Yamanite, 
king  over  them.  Yatnan  is  the  Assyrian  name  for 
Cyprus,  and  it  has  commonly  been  supposed  that 
this  adventurer  was  a  Cypriote  ;  but  in  view  of  the 
close  political  relations  of  Philistia  with  Arabia  at  this 
time,  Winckler's  view  is  more  probable,  that  Yamani 
designates  him  as  a  native  of  Yemen  in  South  Arabia.2 

Once  more  the  promptness  of  Sargon  prevented 
the  revolt  becoming  formidable.  Without  waiting 
to  mobilize  his  entire  army,  he  despatched  an  elite 
corps  that  was  always  in  readiness,  and  struck  Ash- 
dod before  it  had  time  to  summon  its  allies.  The 
cities  were  plundered,  and  the  people  were  deported. 
Yamani  succeeded  in  escaping,  and  fled  "  to  the  bor- 
ders of  Mutsri,  which  belongs  to  the  land  of  Me- 
lukhkha."  Melukhkha  is  Western  Arabia,  and  here 
once  more  it  is  clear  that  Mutsri  cannot  be  Egypt. 

1  According  to  "Winckler,  Altorient.  Forschungen,  ii.  2,  p.  283, 
Mita  is  Midas  of  Greek  legend. 

2  There  is  no  evidence  that  Merodach-baladan  had  a  hand  in  this 
revolution ;  some  critics,  however,  assign  to  this  year  the  account 
of  his  embassy  to  Hezekiah,  2  Kings  xx.  12-19. 


250  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Iii  this  passage  we  learn  for  the  first  time  the  resi- 
dence of  Pir'u,  who  hitherto  has  stood  in  the  back- 
ground as  the  supporter  of  Sib'i  and  of  the  Philistines. 
He  was  king  of  Melukhkha,  which  probably  is  to  be 
identified  with  the  Old  Testament  Ma'in,  the  Minseans, 
and  was  suzerain  of  the  king  of  Mutsri.  From  him 
Sargon  demanded  the  surrender  of  Yatna ;  and  Pir'u 
not  daring  to  refuse,  cast  him  into  chains  and  deliv- 
ered him  up.  The  Palestinian  states,  Judah,  Edom, 
and  Moab,  that  had  taken  side  with  Ashdod,  now 
humbled  themselves  and  paid  up  their  delinquent 
tribute.  For  the  present  they  were  allowed  to  escape 
without  further  penalty.1  To  the  campaign  of  this 
year  the  title  of  Isa.  xx.  alludes  :  "  The  year  that  Tar- 
tan came  to  Ashdod,  when  Sargon  the  king  of  Assyria 
sent  him,  and  he  fought  against  Ashdod  and  took  it." 

In  the  North  a  small  revolt  broke  out  in  the  same 
year.  Tarkhulara,  king  of  Gurgum,  whose  capital 
was  Marqasi,  the  modern  Marash,  was  deposed  by 
his  son  Mutallu,2  but  he  was  immediately  overthrown 
by  Sargon,  and  Gurgum  was  made. an  Assyrian  prov- 
ince. With  its  fall  the  last  vestige  of  Hittite  rule  in 
Northern  Syria  came  to  an  end.3 

In  710  Sargon  gathered  his  forces  for  a  supreme 
effort  to  crush  Merodach-baladan.  The  Chaldean 
and  Aramaean  allies  from  South  Babylonia  and  from 
beyond  the  Euphrates  were  first  defeated.     Then  he 

1  Annals,  215-227 ;  Winckler,  Sargon,  pp.  36-39 ;  General  In- 
scription, 90-112;  Winckler,  pp.  114-117;  Ashdod  Campaign, 
Winckler,  pp.  186-189. 

2  Note  the  similarity  of  these  names  to  those  of  the  Hittite  kings 
at  the  time  of  the  Egyptian  supremacy.     See  p.   106. 

s  Winckler,  Sargon,  pp.  34-37. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SI '  I'KKM  ACY  251 

advanced  upon  Babylon.  Merodach  -  baladan,  not 
daring  to  risk  a  siege,  withdrew  to  South  Babylonia, 
where  in  the  following  year  he  was  defeated  and 
saved  himself  only  by  fleeing  to  Elain.  Sargon  was 
welcomed  by  the  fickle  Babylonians  as  a  deliverer, 
and  on  the  first  of  Nisau  709  became  king  of  Babylon 
by  the  ceremony  of  grasping  the  hands  of  Bel  and 
Nebo.  All  Western  Asia  was  now  obedient,  and  in 
recognition  of  his  supremacy  the  princes  of  Cyprus, 
of  Phrygia,  and  of  Dilmun,  an  island  in  the  Persian 
Gulf,  sent  their  presents. 

The  remainder  of  Sargon's  reign  was  uneventful. 
In  705  he  died  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Sennach- 
erib.1 The  change  of  rulers  was  attended  with  the 
usual  outbreak  of  revolution.  Sennacherib's  brother, 
whom  he  had  appointed  viceroy  of  Babylon,  av;is 
overthrown  by  a  certain  Marduk-zakir-shum  ;  but 
after  a  reign  of  one  month  he  was  dethroned  by  Mero- 
dach-baladan,  who  had  taken  advantage  of  the  general 
confusion  to  return  from  Elam  (704).  The  Syrian 
states  were  already  planning  revolt,  and  Merodach- 
baladan  did  his  best  to  fan  the  flamo.  Elam  was  no 
longer  on  his  side,  as  it  had  been  at  the  time  of  his 
first  occupation  of  Babylon ;  it  was  all  the  more 
important,  therefore,  that  he  should  secure  allies  in 
the  West,  and  by  stirring  up  an  insurrection  there 
should  divert  attention  from  himself. 

Here,  accordingly,  we  find  the  most  probable  date 

1  The  chief  source  for  the  reign  of  Sennacherib  is  the  so-called 
Taylor  Cylinder,  Rawlinson,  i.  37-42 ;  translated  by  Bezold,  Keil- 
inscliriftliche  Bibliothek,  ii.  80-113,  and  by  Rogers,  Records  of  the 
Past,  Neiv  Series,  vi.  83-101. 


252  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

for  his  embassy  to  Hezekiah  that  is  recorded  in 
2  Kings  xx.  12-19  (Isa.  xxxix.).  The  prophetic  docu- 
ment from  which  this  episode  is  drawn  places  it  in 
close  connection  with  an  account  of  Hezekiah's  ill- 
ness,1 and  this,  according  to  2  Kings  xx.  6,  occurred 
fifteen  years  before  his  death,  at  a  time  when  he  was 
dreading  an  attack  of  the  Assyrians.  In  accordance 
with  our  previous  calculation  of  the  beginning  of 
Hezekiah's  reign,2  he  died  in  691 ;  his  illness  must, 
therefore,  have  fallen  in  705,  just  when  Judah  began 
to  plot  treason  against  Sennacherib.  The  author  of 
2  Kings  xx.  has  supposed  that  Merodach-baladan's 
embassy  was  merely  to  congratulate  the  king  upon 
his  recovery,  but  that  there  was  a  deeper  motive  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Hezekiah  showed  the  messen- 
gers all  his  treasures.  Evidently  some  military  plan 
was  proposed,  and  he  indicated  how  much  he  was 
willing  to  contribute. 

That  Merodach-baladan  had  also  an  understanding 
with  the  kings  of  Mutsri,  and  that  his  ambassadors 
visited  other  Syrian  princes  besides  Hezekiah,  is 
likely.  In  any  case,  soon  after  the  accession  of 
Sennacherib,  Phoenicia,  Judaea,  and  Philistia  were  in 
open  revolt.3  Hezekiah  was  the  leading  spirit,  and 
those  of  his  neighbours  who  hesitated  to  join  the  con- 
spiracy he  seems  to  have  coerced.4  Padi,  king  of 
Ekron,  an  Assyrian  appointee,  was  delivered  up  to 
him  by  the  nobles  of  Ekron ;  and  he  cast  him  into  a 
dungeon  in  Jerusalem.5    By  this  act  he  committed 

1  2  Kings  xx.  1-11  (=  Isa.  xxxviii.)-  2  See  p.  247. 

3  2  Kings  xviii.  7.  4  2  Kings  xviii.  8. 

6  Prism  Inscription,  ii.  69-72;  Keilinschr.  Bibl.,  ii.,  p.  92  f. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  i>:,;; 

Judah  irrevocably  to  war.     In  preparation  for  it  be 

strengthened  the  fortifications  of  Jerusalem,  provided 
for  an  abundant  water  supply,  and  concealed  the  wells 
outside  of  the  city.1  From  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 
we  gather  that  at  some  time  during  his  ministry  the 
Palestinian  states  entered  into  negotiations  with  Egypt 
as  well  as  with  Mutsri.2  Unless  Avith  Winckler  we 
assume  a  second  campaign  of  Sennacherib  against 
Syria,3  we  must  refer  these  negotiations  to  the 
period  under  discussion.  Shabako,  the  founder  of 
the  XXVth  (Ethiopian)  dynasty,  is  known  to  have 
been  a  contemporary  of  Sennacherib,  for  seal-impres- 
sions of  both  monarchs  have  been  found  together  on 
a  fragment  of  a  clay  tablet.  Under  this  Nubian  con- 
queror Egypt  was  unified,  and  began  to  take  her 
place  again  among  the  great  powers.  The  presence 
of  his  seal-impression  in  Nineveh  shows  that  he 
maintained  diplomatic  relations  with  Sennacherib, 
but  this  would  not  prevent  his  also  carrying  on 
secret  negotiations  with  the  kings  of  Syria.  If  so, 
this  is  the  first  known  interference  of  Egypt  in  the 
politics  of  Palestine  during  the  period  of  the  Assyrian 
supremacy.  All  other  supposed  earlier  references 
to  alliances  with  Egypt  are,  as  we  have  seen,  really 
references  to  alliances  with  the  Arabian  Mutsri  and 
with  the  kingdom  of  Ma'in  of  which  it  was  the 
vassal. 

Instead  of  first  quelling  the  revolt  in  the  West,  as 

1  2  Chron.  xxxii.  2-8 ;  2  Kings  xx.  20. 

2  Isa.  xix.   1-5  certainly  refers  to  Egypt  ;  other  passages  may 
refer  to  Mutsri. 

3  See  p.  258, 


254  SYEIA    AND    PALEST  INK 

his  predecessors  had  done,  Sennacherib  advanced  at 
once  against  Merodach-baladan.  A  battle  was  fought 
at  Kish  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Babylon,  in  which 
Merodach-baladan  was  defeated  and  was  compelled  to 
flee  after  a  second  reign  of  only  nine  months.  The 
remainder  of  the  year  704  and  all  of  703  were  occupied 
with  the  pacification  of  Babylonia.  702  was  filled 
with  a  campaign  against  the  remnant  of  the  Kassites,1 
who  dwelt  in  the  mountains  on  the  eastern  frontier. 

Not  until  701  was  Sennacherib  free  to  punish  the 
rebels  in  the  West.  Northern  Syria  seems  to  have 
remained  loyal ;  he  marched,  therefore,  without  op- 
position as  far  as  Phoenicia.2  The  allies  had  ample 
time  to  perfect  their  plans  and  to  mass  their  forces ; 
but,  as  was  always  the  case,  mutual  jealousy  prevented 
concerted  action,  and  the  result  was  that  the  Phoe- 
nician cities,  Great  Sidon,  Little  Siclon,  Beth-zitti, 
Sarepta,  Makhalliba,  Ecclippa,  and  Acco  were  easily 
taken.  Ushu,  a  city  that  lay  on  the  land  opposite  the 
island  of  Tyre,  was  also  captured,  but  Tyre  itself  was 
impregnable.  Luli  (Elulaios),  king  of  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
who  had  already  successfully  opposed  Shalmaneser 
IV.,3  established  his  headquarters  in  Cyprus,  and 
thence  supplied  his  capital  with  provisions.  To  this 
time  probably  belongs  the  statement  of  Menander 
preserved  by  Josephus  4  that  Sidon,  Arka,  Old  Tyre 
(=  Ushu),  and  many  other  cities  revolted  from  Tyre 
and  gave  themselves  up  to  the  Assyrians.  Since  Tyre 
itself  would  not  submit,  the  king  of  Assyria  attacked 
it  with  60  warships  and  800  marines   furnished  by 

:  See  p.  63.  2  Prism  Inscription,  i^.  34-iii.  40. 

3  See  p.  244.  4  See  p.  244,  note. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  255 

the  other  Phoenician  cities.  These,  however,  were 
defeated  by  12  Tyrian  vessels,  and  500  prisoners 
were  taken.  Finding  that  lie  could  not  conquer  Luli, 
Sennacherib  appointed  Ethbaal  king  of  Sidon,  and 
placed  under  his  rule  all  the  cities  that  had  formerly 
belonged  to  Tyre.  Tyre  was  thus  shorn  of  the  larger 
part  of  her  domain,  and  a  rival  power  was  raised  up 
against  her.  Upon  this  Arvad,  Ashdod,  Amnion, 
Moab,  and  Edom  submitted;  only  Ashkelon,  Ekron, 
and  Jerusalem  still  remained  obstinate.  Luli  soon 
after  died  in  Cyprus,  and  Baal,  the  king  mentioned 
in  the  inscriptions  of  Esarhaddon  and  Ashurbanipal, 
succeeded  to  the  throne. 

From  Phoenicia  Sennacherib  advanced  into  Phi- 
listia.  Ashkelon  was  captured,  and  its  treasures  and 
royal  family  were  deported.  Ekron,  which  had  de- 
livered up  its  Assyrian  governor  to  Hezekiah,  made  a 
stubborn  fight.  While  Sennacherib  was  besieging  it, 
an  army  from  the  south  came  to  its  relief.  "  The 
kings  of  Mutsri  siimmoned  the  archers,  chariots, 
horses  of  the  king  of  Melukhkha,  an  innumerable  army, 
and  came  to  help  them."  The  kings  of  Mutsri  have 
commonly  been  supposed  to  be  Egyptian  nomarchs ; 
but  wdien  wre  remember  that  as  early  as  701  Egypt 
was  united  under  the  Ethiopian  dynasty,  and  that 
these  kings  of  Mutsri  summoned  the  king  of  Me- 
lukhkha (Western  Arabia)  to  their  help,  the  view  of 
Winckler  is  more  probable,  that  Mutsri  here,  as  in 
previous  passages,  is  Northwest  Arabia.  Sennacherib 
left  Ekron  and  advanced  to  meet  this  army.  At 
Eltekeh  in  Southern  Philistia  a  battle  was  fought 
which  resulted  in  victory  for  the  Assyrians.    Sennach- 


256  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

erib  then  returned  to  Ekron,  took  the  city  by  storm, 
and  impaled  the  leaders  of  the  anti- Assyrian  party  on 
stakes  round  about  the  walls.  Their  adherents  he 
carried  into  captivity,  but  the  rest  of  the  people,  who 
Avere  not  suspected  of  having  assisted  in  the  expulsion 
of  Padi,  he  allowed  to  remain  in  their  land,  and  over 
them  he  subsequently  reinstated  Padi  as  king. 

Hezekiah  alone  now  remained  unconquered,  and 
against  him  Sennacherib  directed  all  his  energy. 
Forty-six  cities  of  Judah  were  taken  by  storm,  and 
200,150  people  were  captured,  besides  horses,  mules, 
asses,  camels,  cattle,  and  sheep  without  number. 
Hezekiah  was  shut  up  in  Jerusalem  "  like  a  bird  in  a 
cage ;  "  and  those  of  his  people  that  attempted  to  desert 
were  sent  back,  in  order  to  reduce  the  supply  of  food 
more  quickly.  Hezekiah  then  submitted,  and  paid  30 
talents  of  gold,  600  talents  of  silver,  precious  stone?, 
ivory,  elephant  hides,  costly  woods,  his  daughters, 
the  women  of  his  harem,  and  male  and  female  slaves. 
Padi,  king  of  Ekron,  was  also  surrendered.  Jerusa- 
lem, however,  did  not  fall  into  Sennacherib's  hands. 

Such  in  outline  is  the  Assyrian  account  of  this 
campaign.  That  it  follows  in  the  main  the  chrono- 
logical order  of  events  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt. 
The  only  exception  is  the  mention  of  the  reinstate- 
ment of  Padi  over  Ekron  before  the  submission  of 
Hezekiah,  who  held  him  captive.  This,  however,  is 
naturally  explained  by  the  desire  to  finish  up  at  one 
time  the  account  of  Sennacherib's  dealings  with 
Ekron. 

Into  this  Assyrian  account  it  is  difficult  to  fit  the 
incidents  of  the  war  that  are  recorded  in  the  Book  of 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  257 

Kings.  Since  the  discussion  of  Stade '  it  has  been 
generally  recognized  that  the  Book  of  Kings  contains 
extracts  from  three  originally  independent  accounts 
of  the  campaign  of  Sennacherib  :  namely,  (1)  2  Kings 
xviii.  14-16 ;  (2)  2  Kings  xviii.  13,  17-xix.  9a  (or  8) ; 
(3)  2  Kings  xix.  9b(or  9a)-37.  The  present  position 
of  these  passages  is  due  to  the  editor  of  the  Book  of 
Kings,  and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  he  has 
arranged  them  in  chronological  order. 

The  first  episode,  which  is  not  found  in  the  parallel 
history,  Isa.  xxxvi.,  and  which  in  other  ways  shows 
its  independent  origin,  records  that  Hezekiah  sent 
messengers  to  Sennacherib  while  he  was  at  Lachish, 
saying,  "I  have  offended;  return  from  me:  that 
which  thou  puttest  on  me  I  will  bear."  Sennacherib 
then  imposed  30  talents  of  gold  and  300  talents  of 
silver,  which  Hezekiah  raised  by  stripping  his  palace 
and  by  cutting  off  the  plates  of  gold  that  decorated 
the  temple.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  payment  of 
tribute  is  the  same  that  Sennacherib  records  at  the 
close  of  his  campaign.  The  only  difference,  that 
Hezekiah  paid  300  talents  of  silver  instead  of  800,  is 
plausibly  explained  by  Brandis  as  due  to  a  difference 
in  weight  between  the  Hebrew  and  the  Assyrian  silver 
talent.2 

The  second  narrative,  2  Kings  xviii.  17-xix.  9a, 
relates  that  Sennacherib  sent  to  demand  the  surren- 
der of  Jerusalem ;  but  that,  at  the  advice  of  Isaiah, 
Hezekiah  refused  to  yield;  and  that  Sennacherib 
was  presently  obliged  to  abandon  the  siege  in  conse- 

1  Zeitschnft  f.  alttest.    Wissenschaft,  1886,  pp.  172  ff. 
5  Miintzwesen,  p.  01. 


258  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

quence  of  the  advance  of  Tirhaqa,  king  of  Ethiopia. 
This  episode  is  placed  by  many  critics  before  the 
payment  of  tribute  recorded  in  xviii.  14-16,  the 
assumption  being  that  through  payment  Hezekiah 
escaped  the  necessity  of  surrendering  his  capital.  If 
this  had  been  the  actual  course  of  events,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  see  how  such  an  escape  could  have  been  cele- 
brated by  the  Judseans  as  a  glorious  manifestation 
of  the  power  of  Yahweh.  It  seems  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  assume  that,  after  receiving  the  tribute, 
Sennacherib  perfidiously  demanded  the  surrender  of 
Jerusalem.  Hezekiah  was  now  helpless,  but  through 
the  approach  of  Tirhaqa,  king  of  Ethiopia,  Sennach- 
erib was  forced  to  retire,  and  subsequently  returned 
to  Nineveh  without  taking  the  city. 

The  third  narrative,  2  Kings  xix.  9b-37,  is  usually 
regarded  as  a  duplicate  to  the  second,  since  it  covers 
the  same  ground,  often  in  identical  words.  Winckler,1 
however,  attaches  xix.  9  to  the  following  passage  and 
regards  the  third  narrative,  not  as  a  duplicate  to  the 
second,  but  as  an  account  of  a  later  campaign  of 
Sennacherib. 

The  basis  for  this  view  is  that  Tirhaqa  was  not 
king  before  691,  and  therefore  could  not  have  relieved 
Jerusalem  in  701.  It  is  true  that  he  did  not  officially 
assume  the  crown  before  691,  but  we  do  not  know 
that  he  was  not  already  practically  the  ruler  of  Egypt 
as  early  as  701.  It  is  certainly  noteworthy  that  in 
2  Kings  xix.  9  he  is  called  "  king  of  Ethiopia  (Cush)  " 
and   not   king   of   Egypt,  which   may  indicate  that, 

1  Alttest.  Untersuchungen,  pp.  27-49.  Followed  by  Benzinger, 
Guthe,  and  Krall. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  259 

although  he  was  master  of  tlie  situation,  he  had  not 
yet  been  proclaimed  Pharaoh.  Besides,  this  verse  is 
found  in  an  extract  from  a  biography  of  Isaiah  that  is 
admittedly  late,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  its 
author  may  have  been  mistaken  in  supposing  that 
Sennacherib  came  into  conflict  with  Tirhaqa.  This 
would  be  no  more  surprising  than  the  mistake  of 
2  Kings  xvii.  6  in  ascribing  the  capture  of  Samaria  to 
Shalmaneser  instead  of  to  Sargon. 

It  is  clear,  accordingly,  that  no  sure  ground  exists 
for  referring  2  Kings  xix.  9a  to  an  expedition  later 
than  the  year  701.  Accordingly,  this  verse  must  be 
regarded  as  part  of  the  second  narrative,  2  Kings 
xviii.  17-xix.  8,  of  which  it  forms  the  natural  conclu- 
sion, explaining  how  Sennacherib  came  to  give  up  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem.  This  being  the  case,  no  reason 
exists  for  referring  the  third  narrative  to  a  later  date. 
Of  a  second  campaign  against  Hezekiah  about  681,  as 
"Winckler  assumes,  there  is,  apart  from  the  passage 
under  discussion,  no  evidence  either  in  the  Assyrian 
or  in  the  Hebrew  records.  It  is  true  that  Esarhaddon 
mentions  a  later  expedition  of  his  father  against  the 
Arabians,1  but  there  is  no  proof  that  at  this  time  he 
came  near  Jerusalem  or  made  another  demand  for  its 
surrender.  Moreover,  it  is  improbable  that  Heze- 
kiah lived  as  late  as  681.  As  we  have  seen  already,2 
the  traditional  figures  for  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of 
Judah  from  Ahaz  to  Zedekiah  agree  in  their  sum 
total  with  the  Assyrian  data;  there  is  no  reason, 
therefore,  to  doubt  their  correctness ;  and  they  place 
the  death  of  Hezekiah  in  691. 

1  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  ii.  131.  *  See  p.  247. 


260  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

I  conclude,  accordingly,  that  2  Kings  xix.  9b-37 
does  not  refer  to  a  second  campaign  of  Sennacherib, 
but  is  a  parallel  account  to  xviii.  17-xix.  9a  of  his 
demand  for  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  in  701.     In 
this  case  its  statements  may  be  used  to  supplement 
and  to   check   those  of   its   doublet.     The  only  im- 
portant  difference   between   the   two  passages  is  in 
regard  to  the  reason  for  Sennacherib's  sudden  depart- 
ure.    One  connects  it  with  the  coming  of  Tirhaqa ; 
the  other,  with  the  outbreak  of  a  pestilence.     Perhaps 
the  two  reports  are  supplementary ;  the  reason  why 
Sennacherib  fled  was  that  his  army  was  so  weakened 
by  disease  that  he  did  not  care  to  encounter  Tirhaqa. 
With  the  narrative  of  the  pestilence  a  story  of  Hero- 
dotus l  has  often  been  compared,  which  relates  that 
Sennacherib,  king   of   the   Arabians  and  Assyrians, 
threatened  Egypt ;  and  that  Sethos  went  to  meet  him 
with  a  small  army.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Pelusium 
a  swarm  of  field-mice  invaded  the  camp  of  the  As- 
syrians during  the  night  and  destroyed  their  quivers, 
bows,  and  shield-handles,  so  that  the  next  day  they 
were  unable  to  fight,  and  were  obliged  to  retreat  in 
disorder.     By  many  this  story  is  regarded  as  a  dis- 
torted  tradition    of   the   defeat    of    Sennacherib   by 
Tirhaqa;   it   is  doubtful,  however,  whether  it  really 
has  any  connection  with  this  event.     The  priest-king 
Sethos  has  nothing  in  common  with  Tirhaqa,  except 
that  Herodotus  makes  him  follow  Shabako. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  reason  for  Sennach- 
erib's departure,  the  fact  remains  that,  contrary  to 
all    anticipation,    he   failed    to   capture    Jerusalem. 
1  ii.  Hi. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  201 

Isaiah's  predictions  were  fulfilled,  and  the  temple  was 
crowned  with  glory  as  the  abode  of  a  god  who  was 
powerful  enough  to  defeat  the  great  gods  of  Assyria. 

The  years  between  700  and  689  were  spent  in  con- 
flict with  Babylonia  and  Elam.  During  this  interval 
the  West  enjoyed  peace,  and  Sennacherib  could  make 
no  further  attempt  to  capture  Jerusalem.  In  091 
Tirhaqa  (Tarqu)  had  sufficiently  established  his  au- 
thority over  Egypt  to  assume  the  title  of  Pharaoh. 
In  the  same  year  probably  Hezekiah  died,  and  Ma- 
nasseh,  his  son,  ascended  the  throne  of  Judah.  In 
G89  Sennacherib  captured  Babylon,  and  in  revenge 
for  its  repeated  rebellions  razed  it  to  the  ground. 

The  way  was  now  clear  for  another  invasion  of  the 
West,  but  whether  it  was  actually  undertaken  we  do 
not  know,  since  at  this  point  the  Annals  break  off. 
In  any  case  it  is  probable  that  after  the  capture  of 
Babylon,  Manasseh,  king  of  Judah,  and  Baal,  king  of 
Tyre,  submitted  to  Assyria,  and  thus  avoided  a  rep- 
etition of  the  experiences  of  the  year  701.  Both 
kings  are  mentioned  as  tributaries  in  an  inscription 
that  belongs  to  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Esar- 
haddon.1 

Manasseh  was  a  man  of  a  very  different  type 
from  Hezekiah.  He  persecuted  the  prophetical 
party,  which  advocated  an  independent  national 
policy,  and  made  it  his  ambition  to  conform  Judah 
to  the  pattern  of  her  heathen  neighbours.  It  is  even 
possible  that  he  came  to  the  throne  in  consequence 
of  a  reaction  against  the  anti-Assyrian  policy  of  his 
father.  Probably,  therefore,  one  of  the  first  acts  of 
1  Broken  Prism,  v.  13. 


262  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

his  reign  was  to  make  peace  with  Sennacherib,  and 
to  ingratiate  himself  by  introducing  Assyrian  relig- 
ious rites  into  Jerusalem.1 

In  681  Sennacherib  was  assassinated  by  two  of  his 
sons  as  he  was  worshipping  in  one  of  the  temples,  and 
Esarhaddon,2  another  son  whom  he  had  made  gov- 
ernor of  Babylonia,  succeeded  to  the  throne.3 

For  the  first  time  in  Assyrian  history  there  was  no 
general  revolt  of  the  provinces  following  the  accession 
of  a  new  monarch.  As  governor  of  Babylon  Esar- 
haddon had  won  the  affection  of  his  subjects ;  and 
when  he  became  king,  he  endeavoured  to  make  good 
the  ruin  that  his  father  had  wrought  by  rebuilding  the 
holy  city,  and  endowing  its  temples.  As  a  result  of 
this  policy  there  was  no  Babylonian  revolt  during  his 
reign.  "The  twenty-two  kings  of  the  Hittite  land, 
of  the  sea  coast,  and  of  the  midst  of  the  sea,"  also 
paid  their  tribute ;  and  when  he  undertook  to  build  a 
palace  for  himself  in  Nineveh,  they  furnished  materials 
to  beautify  it.  Among  them  are  mentioned  Baal, 
king  of  Tyre  ;  Menase  (Manasseh),  king  of  Judah ; 
Qaush-gabri,  king  of  Edom  ;  Mutsuri,  king  of  Moab  ; 
Puduilu,  king  of  Ammon. 

Only  Sidon  is  absent  from  this  list.  As  early  as 
678,  apparently,  Abd-milkot,  the  son  of  Ethbaal, 
whom  Sennacherib  had  installed  as  king,  entered  into 
negotiations  with  Tirhaqa,  king  of  Egypt,  and  re- 

1  2  Kings  xxi. ;  Micah  vi.-vii. 

5  The  chief  inscriptions  of  Esarhaddon  are  translated  by  Budge, 
The  History  of  Esarhaddon ;  and  by  Abel  and  Winckler  in  the 
Keilinschrift/iche  Bibliothek,  ii.  120-153. 

3  2  Kings  xix.  3G  f.  ;  Babylonian  Chronicle,  iii.  34. 


TH?]    ASSYRIAN    Sll'KKMACY  263 

fused  to  pay  tribute.  In  676  Esarhaddon  found 
Leisure  from  In*  building  operations  to  lead  an  arm) 
against  him. 

No  help  came  from  Egypt ;  and  on  the  news  of 
Esarhaddon's  approach,  Abd-milkot  fled  by  ship  to 
one  of  the  Sidonian  colonies  in  Cyprus,  whence 
doubtless  he  expected  to  send  aid  to  the  besieged  ; 
but  the  fear  of  the  Assyrians  was  too  great ;  his 
former  subjects  delivered  him  up,  and  Esarhaddon 
beheaded  him.  Sidon  soon  fell,  and  an  immense 
spoil  \v;is  taken.  The  city  was  destroyed,  and  a  new 
town  was  built  on  a  new  site  and  peopled  with  cap- 
tives from  the  eastern  part  of  the  empire.  Sanduarri, 
king  of  Kundi  (perhaps  =  Kyinda),  who  had  joined 
Abd-milkot  in  his  revolt,  was  also  captured  and  be- 
headed. 

In  G74  Arabia  was  invaded.  Securing  the  help  of 
Aribi  (the  Arabians  in  a  narrow  sense)  and  of  the 
Saba^ans,  Esarhaddon  penetrated  into  the  extreme 
south  of  the  peninsula,  defeated  the  king  of  Me- 
lukhkha,  and  apparently  brought  this  kingdom  to  an 
end.  From  this  time  onward  the  Minaeans  disappear 
from  history,  and  the  Sabseans  take  their  place  as  the 
dominant  race  in  Arabia.  The  coveted  prize  of  the 
spice-trade  was  thus  won  at  last,  and  a  short  route 
across  the  desert  was  secured  for  the  long-planned 
attack  upon  Egypt. 

The  fall  of  Sidon  encouraged  Baal,  king  of  T}rre,  to 
hope  that  he  might  once  more  secure  the  territories  on 
the  mainland  that  had  been  held  by  his  forefathers. 
Accordingly,  he  made  an  alliance  with  Tirhaqa,  and 
threw  off  his  allegiance  to  Assyria.     In  673   Esar- 


264 


SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 


haddon    came   up    against    him    and    besieged   his 
capital. 

This  was  probably  the  five-year  siege  of  Tyre  that 
Menander  in  Josephus  appends  to  the  account  of 
Shalmaneser's  invasion  '  of  Phoenicia.  Menander  re- 
ports that  the  king  of  Assyria,  finding  that  he  could 
not  storm  the  city,  set  guards  over  all  the  springs  and 
rivers  of  the  mainland  whence  the  Tyrians  were 
accustomed  to  fetch  water ;  but  that  they  made  cis- 
terns for  rain  and  thus  held  out  against  him.  At  this 
time,  as  during  the  whole  period  of  the  Assyrian  and 
of  the  Persian  supremacy,  the  island  fortress  of  Tyre 
proved  impregnable.  Alexander  was  the  first  to 
reduce  it  by  building  a  mole  that  connected  it  with 
the  mainland. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  the  siege  of  Tyre  began,  an 
expedition  was  sent  against  Egypt,  but  it  met  with  no 
success.  In  670  Esarhaddon  renewed  the  attack,  and 
this  time  swept  all  before  him.  Tirhaqa  was  defeated 
at  Iskhupri  near  the  frontier,  and  fell  back  upon 
Memphis.  Fifteen  days  later  this  city  fell,  and  was 
given  over  to  destruction.  Tirhaqa's  wives  and  chil- 
dren were  captured,  and  he  himself  made  his  escape 
to  his  native  land  of  Kush.  Esarhaddon  then  divided 
Egypt  into  twenty-two  provinces,  which  he  placed  un- 
der the  rule  of  tributary  native  princes.2  Baal,  king 
of  Tyre,  hearing  of  the  rout  of  his  ally,  concluded  that 
further  opposition  was  useless,  and  began  to  enter 
into  negotiations  for  peace. 

1  See  p.  244. 

5  Stele  of  Zenjirli,  lines  35-49;  see  von  Luschan,  Ausgrabungen 
in  Sendschirli,  p.  41. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  265 

Just  at  this  time  the  stele  of  Esarh addon,  recently 
discovered  by  the  German  expedition  at  Zenjirli,  was 
erected.  The  artist  represents  the  king  in  heroic 
size,  standing  with  cords  in  his  hands  that  pass 
through  rings  in  the  lips  of  Tirhaqa  and  of  Baal,  who 
crouch  before  him  in  a  suppliant  attitude.  The  in- 
scription records  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  and  doubtless 
the  sculptor  intended  to  add  the  subjugation  of  Baal  ; 
but  before  the  monument  was  finished  events  took  a 
new  turn.  No  sooner  had  Esarhaddon  left  Egypt 
than  Tirhaqa  returned  at  the  head  of  a  Nubian  army, 
reoccupied  Memphis  and  overthrew  the  Assyrian 
governors.  Hearing  of  this,  Baal  of  Tyre  once  more 
defied  Esarhaddon  ;  the  siege,  therefore,  was  resumed. 
The  sculptor  at  Zenjirli  who  had  depicted  Baal  with 
a  ring  in  his  lips  was  obliged  to  omit  reference  to  his 
capture  in  the  accompanying  text. 

In  668  Esarhaddon  undertook  another  Egyptian 
campaign,  and  having  a  presentiment  of  his  approach- 
ing death,  appointed  before  setting  out  his  son  Ashur- 
banipal  his  successor  in  Nineveh,  and  another  son, 
Shamashshumukin,  his  successor  in  Babylon.  The 
route  led  through  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  the 
twenty-two  kings  that  had  previously  furnished  ma- 
terials for  the  building  of  the  palace,  brought  gifts 
and  joined  their  forces  to  the  army.  Baal  of  Tyre 
now  submitted,  paid  his  tribute,  and  furnished  his 
contingent  of  troops.  Tyre  itself  remained  in  his 
hands,  but  all  the  cities  on  the  mainland  that  had 
formerly  belonged  to  him  were  taken  away  and 
were  included  in  the  Assyrian  province  of  Sidon. 
Before  entering  Egypt  Esarhaddon  died,  and  Ashur- 


206  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

banipal '  either  took  the  lead  in  person,  or  ordered 
the  army  to  proceed  under  the  command  of  a  general. 
At  Karbanit  in  the  Delta  the  Egyptian  army  was  de- 
feated, and  Tirhaqa,  who  had  remained  in  Memphis, 
fled  to  Thebes,  and  then  to  a  stronghold  in  Nubia. 
Memphis  was  again  occupied,  and  the  twenty-two 
nomarchs  that  Esarhaddon  had  appointed  were  re- 
instated. 

As  soon  as  Ashurbanipal  departed  the  nomarchs 
began  again  to  treat  with  Tirhaqa.  But  for  his 
death,  which  occurred  while  the  negotiations  were  in 
progress,  he  would  doubtless  have  returned  once  more 
to  Egypt.  Tanut-Amen  (Tandamane),  his  successor, 
carried  out  his  programme,  occupying  Thebes,  and 
besieging  the  Assyrian  garrison  that  had  been  left 
in  Memphis.  A  swift  messenger  brought  tidings  to 
Ashurbanipal,  and  he  at  once  despatched  an  army 
under  the  command  of  the  turtan.  On  its  approach 
Tanut-Amen  retreated  from  Memphis  to  Thebes,  and 
finally  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Nubia.  In  667 
or  666,  Thebes,  the  proud  capital  of  the  XVIIIth 
and  XlXth  dynasties,  was  captured  and  destroyed. 
Its  plunder  was  transported  to  Nineveh,  the  Assyrian 
-provincial  governors  were  reinstated,  and  the  army 
returned  to  Nineveh. 

In  660  war  broke  out  with  El  am  and  raged  until 
645.  Psammetik  I.,  the  son  of  Necho  L,  whom  Esar- 
haddon had  appointed  governor  of  Memphis  and 
Sais,  took  advantage  of   Ashurbanipal's   preoccupa- 

1  The  inscriptions  of  Ashurbanipal  are  published  in  part  by  G. 
Smith,  History  of  Assurbanipal ;  S.  A.  Smith,  Die  Keilschrifttexte 
Assurbanipals ;  Jensen,  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek^  ii.    152-209. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  267 

tioD,  declared  his  independence,  and  succeeded  in 
uniting  Egypt  under  his  rule.  With  him  begins  the 
XXVIth  Egyptian  dynasty.  The  boasted  victories  of 
Esarhaddon  and  Ashurbanipal  were  a  fruitless  waste 
of  energy,  for  Assyria  never  again  gained  possession 
of  the  Nile  valley.  While  the  Egyptian  campaigns 
were  going  on,  the  northern  provinces  were  being 
wrested  one  by  one  from  the  empire  by.Indo-Germanic 
hordes  who  were  destined  presently  to  found  the 
Median  and  Persian  kingdoms  and  to  put  an  end 
both  to  Assyria  and  to  Babylon.  Against  these 
northern  barbarians  neither  Esarhaddon  nor  Ashur- 
banipal made  an  effective  stand,  and  their  gains  in 
Africa  were  but  a  poor  offset  to  losses  in  Armenia 
and  Asia  Minor  that  brought  destruction  ever  nearer 
to  their  frontier. 

In  652  Shainashshumukin,  whom  Esarhaddon  had 
appointed  king  of  Babylon,  endeavoured  to  throw  off 
his  allegiance  to  his  brother.  Secret  messages  were 
sent  to  the  disaffected  in  all  parts  of  the  empire,  and 
a  great  conspiracy  was  formed,  such  as  had  not  been 
seen  since  the  days  of  Merodach-baladan.  Akkad, 
Chaldea,  Elam,  the  Aramaeans  of  the  Euphrates  Val- 
ley, Syria,  Palestine,  and  Arabia  all  agreed  to  a 
simultaneous  revolt.  Manasseh  and  the  other  Syrian 
princes,  who  for  fifty  years  had  paid  their  tribute 
without  protest,  and  who  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
how  to  rebel,  were  once  more  up  in  arms.  To  this 
I  teriod  probably  refers  the  statement  of  2  Chron.  xxxiii. 
14-16  that  Manasseh  built  an  outer  wall  to  the  city 
of  David,  and  raised  up  Ophel  to  a  great  height,  and 
put  out  the  strange  gods  from  the  temple.     Having 


268  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

renounced   his   allegiance   to  Ass}rria,    lie   naturally 
suspended  the  worship  of  its  deities. 

If  the  allies  had  only  stood  together,  Ashurbanipal 
must  inevitably  have  been  defeated ;  but  Elam  and 
Aribi  alone  sent  troops  to  the  aid  of  Shamashshum- 
ukin,  and  although  he  made  a  stubborn  fight,  he  was 
at  last  shut  up  within  the  walls  of  his  capital.  After 
suffering  all  the  horrors  of  starvation,  Babylon  fell  in 
648,  and  Shamashshumukin  perished  in  the  flames  of 
his  palace.  On  hearing  of  his  fate  the  princes  of 
Syria  and  Palestine,  except  those  of  Ushu  (Tyre  on 
the  mainland)  and  Akko,1  hastened  to  renew  their 
allegiance  and  to  present  themselves  in  person  to  beg 
pardon  for  their  revolt.  According  to  2  Chron.  xxxiii. 
11  f.  Manasseh  was  brought  in  chains  to  Babylon,  but 
was  subsequently  restored  to  his  throne.  There  may 
be  some  exaggeration  in  the  statement  that  he  was 
brought  in  chains,  but  that  he  had  to  appear  before 
the  king  of  Assyria  and  be  reinstated  is  altogether 
probable.  In  647  Ashurbanipal  was  present  in  Baby- 
lon to  be  crowned  under  the  name  of  Kandalanu,  and 
in  this  year  we  find  the  most  probable  date  for  the 
visit  of  Manasseh. 

About  the  same  time  Ashurbanipal  (=  Osnappar) 
settled  in  Samaria  people  of  Babylon,  Cutha,  Sippar, 
Susa,  and  Elam  that  he  had  taken  captive  during  his 
recent  campaign.  Out  of  the  mixture  of  these  settlers 
with  the  remnants  of  the  old  Hebrew  population 
arose  the  later  nation  of  the  Samaritans.  Since  the 
deportation  of  Israel  in  722,  lions  and  other  wild 
beasts  had  multiplied  in  the  land,  and  they  wrought 

1  Rassam  Cylinder,  ix.  117-123. 


THE    ASSYRIAN    SUPREMACY  269 

havoc  among  the  colonists.  Attributing  this  to  the 
wrath  of  the  local  god,  they  appealed  to  Ashurbani- 
pal,  and  he  sent  them  a  priest  from  among  the  exiles 
that  Sargon  had  deported  to  teach  them  the  religion 
of  Yahweh.1 

After  the  capture  of  Babylon  Ashurbanipal  set  out 
to  punish  the  Arabian  tribes  that  had  assisted  Sham- 
ashshumukin.  Great  changes  had  taken  place  in  the 
political  geography  of  Arabia  since  the  expeditions  of 
Sennacherib  and  of  Esarhaddon.  Melukhkha  (Ma'in 
of  the  O.  T.)  had  fallen,  and  the  hegemony  in  North 
Arabia  had  passed  to  Aribi,  the  tribe  from  which  our 
name  of  Arabia  is  derived,  of  which  Qidrai  and 
Nabayati  (Kedar  and  Nebaioth  of  the  O.  TV)  were  a 
part.  These  tribes  had  occupied  Mutsri  and  the 
Hauran  and  had  seized  many  towns  in  Edom,  Moab, 
Amnion,  and  Zubitu  (Zobah?).  In  their  advance 
we  see  the  beginning  of  the  Nabatrean,  or  fourth 
great  Semitic  migration,  that  in  the  next  century 
overflowed  a  large  part  of  Syria  and  Palestine. 
Ashurbanipal  traversed  the  Syrian  desert,  destroying 
the  encampments  of  the  Bedawin  and  capturing  their 
camels  as  far  as  Moab  and  Edom.  Yauta,  king  of 
Kedar,  fled  to  the  Nabatseans,  and  his  grand-nephew 
Uaite,  who  continued  to  oppose  the  Assyrians,  was 
taken  and  carried  to  Nineveh,  wrhere  he  was  set  in  a 
cage  at  the  door  of  the  palace  to  act  as  a  watch-dog. 
A  certain  Abiyate  was  appointed  king  in  his  place. 

Abiyate  soon  united  with  the  Nabatasans  and  the 
Kedarenes  to  resist  Assyria,  and  Ashurbanipal  was 
obliged   to   make   a  second  expedition  into  Arabia. 
1  2  Kings  xvii.  24-41 ;  Ezra  iv.  8-10. 


270  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Aribi  and  Kedar  were  chastised,  but  the  Nabatseans 
were  uot  touched.  On  the  return  march  he  traversed 
Palestine  and  reduced  the  Phoenician  cities  of  Ushu 
and  Akko  that  had  probably  revolted  at  the  time  of 
Shamashshumukin's  rebellion  and  had  remained  in- 
dependent ever  since.1 

In  regard  to  the  period  between  the  Arabian  cam- 
paigns and  Ashurbanipal's  death  in  626  we  have  no 
sources  of  information.  Apparently  the  king  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the  tranquil  enjoyment 
of  the  fruit  of  his  labours,  and  the  provinces  remained 
submissive.  In  637  the  long  reign  of  Manasseh  came 
to  an  end,  and  his  son  Amon  succeeded  him.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Book  of  Kings,2  Amon  walked  in  the 
way  of  his  father  and  served  the  idols  that  he  served, 
from  which  we  may  infer  that  he  remained  a  vassal  of 
Ashurbanipal.  The  conspiracy  to  which  he  fell  a 
victim  was  probably  due  to  a  desire  of  the  nobles  of 
Judah  to  escape  from  the  burdensome  exactions  of 
Assyria.  The  people  of  the  land,  however,  took  the 
side  of  the  house  of  David,  slew  the  conspirators, 
and  made  the  child  Josiah  king.3  The  relation  to 
Assyria,  accordingly,  remained  as  it  had  been  before. 
1  See  p.  267.  !  2  Kings  xxi.  20.  3  2  Kings  xxi.  23  f. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   NEW   BABYLONIAN   SUPREMACY 

The  decline  of  Assyria  had  been  going  on  ever 
since  the  days  of  Sennacherib,  and  after  the  death  of 
Ashurbanipal  the  empire  rapidly  broke  np.  About 
624  the  Scythians,  a  new  wave  of  Indo-Germanic 
migration,  broke  upon  Western  Asia.  According  to 
Herodotus l  their  hordes  defeated  the  Medes,  and 
advanced  as  far  as  the  gates  of  Nineveh.  Then  they 
traversed  Syria  and  Palestine,  pillaging  and  slaying 
as  they  went,  until  they  reached  the  border  of  Egypt, 
where  they  were  bought  off  by  Psammetik  I.  For 
twenty-eight  years  they  terrorized  Western  Asia,  and 
then  disappeared  as  suddenly  as  they  had  come. 
The  prophecy  of  Zephaniah  and  the  early  oracles  of 
Jeremiah  were  uttered  at  a  time  when  it  was  feared 
that  they  might  leave  the  coast-road  and  invade 
Judah.  They  also  furnished  the  colours  with  which 
Ezekiel  painted  the  terrors  of  "  the  day  of  Yahweh." 

Through  this  Scythian  invasion  the  Assyrian  empire 
was  shattered,  and  its  former  vassals  hastened  to 
divide  the  fragments  among  themselves.  Nabopol- 
assar,  prince  of  the  Chaldeans  who  dwelt  on  the 
shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  succeeded,  like  the  Chal- 
dean Merodach-baladan,  in   making  himself  king  of 

•  i.  104  f 
271 


272  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

Babylon.  At  first  he  acknowledged  the  suzerainty  of 
Ashuretililani(ukini),  the  successor  of  Ashurbanipal ; 
but  soon  he  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Indo-Ger- 
manic  Medes,  who  had  recently  destroyed  the  ancient 
kingdom  of  Elam,  to  partition  the  Assyrian  Empire 
between  themselves.  Nabopolassar  took  the  plain  of 
Mesopotamia,  and  Cyaxares  took  the  mountain  regions 
enclosing  it  on  the  east  and  north.  Josiah,  king  of 
Judah,  was  now  of  age,  and  was  animated  with  the 
patriotic  ideals  of  the  prophetic  party.  Soon  after 
the  death  of  Ashurbanipal,  probably,  he  declared  his 
independence,  and  the  reforms  which  2  Chron.  xxxiv. 
assigns  to  the  beginning  of  his  reign  were  apparently 
nothing  more  than  a  repudiation  of  the  Assyrian  cult 
that  had  been  introduced  by  his  forefathers.  The 
extension  of  his  iconoclasm  into  the  province  of 
Samaria  is  an  additional  evidence  of  his  hostility  to 
Assyria.  In  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  in  the  temple  ' 
gave  a  powerful  impulse  to  the  reforming  tendency 
and  to  the  prophetic  national  party  that  repudiated 
foreign  alliances  as  disloyalty  to  Yahweh.  The  other 
kings  of  Syria  and  Palestine  doubtless  followed  the 
example  of  Judah  and  threw  off  their  allegiance  to  a 
dying  empire ;  of  this,  however,  we  have  no  explicit 
record.  By  the  year  609  Mesopotamia  had  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Nabopolassar,  and  all  the  provinces 
in  the  North  and  in  the  West  were  lost.     Sinsharish- 

1  2  Kings  xxii.-xxiii.  This  was  in  the  year  621,  if  we  follow  the 
Babylonian  method  of  reckoning  used  by  late  writers  ;  619,  if  we 
suppose  that  the  first  year  of  one  king's  reign  was  the  last  of  his 
predecessor. 


THE    NEW    BABYLONIAN    SUPREMACY         ^73 

kun  (Sarakos),  the  last  king  of  Assyria,  ruled  over  little 
more  than  the  old  home-land  of  Ashshur. 

In  609  Psammetik  I.  died  and  his  son  Necho  II. 
succeeded  him.  According  to  Herodotus  he  at- 
tempted to  bring  the  trade  of  Arabia  and  India  into 
his  hands  by  cutting  a  canal  between  the  Nile  and 
the  Red  Sea.  Failing  in  this,  he  determined  to  capt- 
ure the  land-route  between  India  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean. In  G08,  probably,  he  set  out  to  conquer 
Syria  and  to  give  the  coup  de  grace  to  Assyria.1  The 
Philistine  cities  submitted,  and  he  advanced  without 
opposition,  like  one  of  the  old  Egyptian  conquerors, 
as  far  as  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  ancient  battle- 
field of  Syria,  where  he  was  met  by  Josiah,  king  of 
Judah.  It  was  not  loyalty  to  Assyria  that  impelled 
Josiah  to  fight  with  him,  but  rather  unwillingness  to 
accept  a  new  master  when  he  had  so  lately  escaped 
from  the  old  one,  and  also  a  religious  enthusiasm 
which  led  him  to  believe  that  the  God  of  Israel  would 
not  suffer  his  true  worshipper  to  be  conquered.  In 
the  battle  of  Megiddo  a  Josiah  was  defeated  and  slain, 
and  with  his  death  the  hope  of  a  brighter  future  for 
Judah  came  to  an  end.  Necho  then  pressed  on  into 
Northern  Syria,  captured  Kadytis  (probably  Qadesh 
on  the  Orontes),  and  made  his  headquarters  at  Eiblah 
in  the  land  of  Hamath. 

Meanwhile  the  Judreans  chose  Jehoahaz,  the  son 
of  Josiah,  king,  but  Necho  refused  to  confirm  him, 

•2  Kings  xxiii.  29-30;  2  Cliron.  xxxv.  20-25. 

•  Herodotus,  ii.  L59,  seems  to  place  the  battle  at  Migdol  on  the 
border  of  Egypt  rather  than  at  Megiddo,  but  this  is  probably  less 
accurate. 


27-i  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

cast  him  into  chains  at  Riblah,  and  sent  him  a  pris- 
oner to  Egypt.  His  brother  Eliakim  was  appointed 
under  the  throne-name  of  Jehoiakim,  and  a  tribute 
of  one  hundred  talents  of  silver  and  one  talent  of 
gold  yearly  was  laid  upon  him.  This  Jehoiakim 
raised  by  an  extraordinary  tax  upon  all  land  owners.1 

Before  Necho  could  come  into  conflict  with  Assyria 
Nineveh  fell,  probably  in  the  year  607.  The  Medes 
under  Cyaxares,  with  the  connivance,  if  not  with  the 
actual  support  of  the  Babylonians,  forced  Sinsharish- 
kun  back  within  his  capital,  defeated  his  ally  Madyas, 
king  of  the  Ashkuza  (another  Indo-Germanic  people, 
the  enemies  of  the  Medes),  and  finally  captured  Nine- 
veh itself.  For  a  thousand  years  this  city  had  been 
unconquered,  and  all  the  riches  of  the  earth  had 
flowed  into  it.  It  was  now  razed  to  the  ground,  and 
its  treasures  were  divided  among  the  northern  bar- 
barians. The  great  Assyrian  empire,  that  for  centuries 
had  trodden  down  the  nations,  was  fallen,  never  to 
rise  again.  From  that  day  to  this  Nineveh  has  not 
been  rebuilt. 

Necho  had  come  out  with  the  expectation  of  gain- 
ing part  of  the  spoil,  but  he  was  too  late  ;  and  he  now 
found  that  instead  of  fighting  with  the  decrepit  As- 
syrian empire  he  must  encounter  the  vigorous  young 
Chaldean  empire.  Nabopolassar  had  no  intention  of 
allowing  the  prize  that  was  about  to  fall  into  his 
hands  to  be  wrested  from  him  by  Egypt ;  accordingly 
he  sent  an  army  against  Necho  under  the  command 
of  his  son  Nebuchadrezzar.  A  battle  was  fought  in 
605  at  Carchemish  on  the  Euphrates  in  which  it  was 

1  2  Kings  xxiii.  31-35. 


THK    NEW     BABYLONIAN    Kl'I'KKMACY  275 

decided  that  the  heritage  of  Assyria  was  to  belong 
not  to  Egypt  but  to  Babylon. 

Nebuchadrezzar  was  not  able  to  follow  up  his  vic- 
tory immediately,  for  news  of  his  father's  death 
reached  him  soon  after  the  battle,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  return  at  once  to  Babylon  to  secure  his  succession. 
By  the  year  GOO  he  had  organized  the  government  at 
home,  and  was  ready  to  take  possession  of  the  west- 
ern provinces  of  the  fallen  Assyrian  empire.  The 
princes  of  Syria  and  Palestine  seem  to  have  submitted 
to  the  new  master  without  a  blow.  They  were  re- 
instated, and  were  placed  under  tribute,  "  and  the 
king  of  Egypt  came  not  again  any  more  out  of  his 
land,  for  the  king  of  Babylon  had  taken,  from  the 
Brook  of  Mutsri  unto  the  Biver  Euphrates,  all  that 
pertained  to  the  king  of  Egypt."  1  2  Kings  xxiv.  1 
records  merely  that  Jehoiakim  became  the  servant  of 
Nebuchadrezzar,  but  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6  f.  states  that  he 
was  bound  in  fetters  and  that  some  of  the  vessels  of 
the  temple  were  carried  away.  If  this  statement  be 
historical,  it  indicates  that  Jehoiakim  at  first  tried  to 
resist  Nebuchadrezzar,  and  that  this  policy  nearly 
cost  him  his  kingdom.  In  regard  to  the  fate  of  the 
other  Syrian  kingdoms  we  have  no  information.  The 
records  of  the  Babylonian  monarchs  are  almost  exclu- 
sively accounts  of  their  buildings,  and  contain  little  of 
the  historical  matter  that  is  found  in  the  Assyrian 
annals. 

For  three  years  Jehoiakim  paid  his  tribute,  and 
then,  trusting  presumably  to  the  help  of  Necho,  he 
refused  to  pay  it  longer.     In  599,  accordingly,  Nebu- 

1  2  Kings  xxiv.  7. 


276  SYEIA    AND    PALESTINE 

cliadrezzar  came  up  against  him.  Before  his  arrival, 
however,  Jehoiakim  died  and  Jehoiachin,  his  son, 
succeeded  him.  He  Avas  unable  to  make  a  stand 
against  the  Chaldeans,  and  the  expected  help  from 
Egypt  did  not  arrive  ;  so  that  he  was  constrained  to 
go  out  from  Jerusalem  and  to  cast  himself  upon  the 
mercy  of  the  conqueror.  Nebuchadrezzar  spared  his 
life,  but  deposed  him  and  appointed  his  uncle  Mat- 
taniah  king  under  the  throne-name  of  Zedekiah. 
Jehoiachin,  his  mother,  his  wives,  and  all  the  better 
portion  of  the  population  of  Jerusalem  he  carried 
captive  to  Babylonia,  and  settled  them  on  vacant 
lands  near  his  capital.  By  the  removal  of  the  upper 
classes  and  of  the  army  he  trusted  that  the  spirit  of 
Jerusalem  would  be  broken  and  that  it  would  no 
more  revolt,  but  in  this  expectation  he  was  disap- 
pointed. The  remnant  of  the  population  flattered 
itself  that  it  had  escaped  on  account  of  its  superior 
righteousness,  and  believed  the  false  prophets  who 
declared  that  the  yoke  of  Babylon  would  presently  be 
broken.  In  593  ambassadors  of  Moab,  Edom,  Ammon, 
Tyre,  and  Sidon  arrived  in  Jerusalem  to  arrange  for  a 
general  revolt ;  but  at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Jere- 
miah, Zedekiah  refrained  from  committing  himself.1 
Having  nevertheless  fallen  under  suspicion  of  con- 
spiracy, he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Babylon  in  order  to 
clear  himself.2 

In  588  Hophra  came  to  the  throne  of  Egypt  and  at 
once  inaugurated  a  vigorous  anti-Babylonian  policy. 
The  majority  of  the  Syrian  states  were  ready  to  form 
an  alliance   with   him,   and   those   that   refused   he 

1  Jer.  xxvii. ,  xxviii.  2  Jer.  li.  59. 


THE    NEW    BABYLONIAN    SUPBEMAC1  277 

coerced.  Herodotus1  records  an  expedition  against 
the  Syrians  and  the  Sidonians.  Zedekiah  joined 
the  coalition,  and  Nebuchadrezzar  perceived  that 
prompt  intervention  was  necessary  or  Egypt  would 
rob  him  of  his  western  provinces.  In  588  he  estab- 
lished his  headquarters  at  lliblah  in  the  land  of 
Hamath  and  sent  an  army  to  starve  Jerusalem  into 
submission.  The  following  spring  (587)  Hophra  sent 
a  force  to  the  relief  of  his  ally,  and  the  Chaldeans 
were  obliged  temporarily  to  raise  the  siege.  The  joy 
of  the  Judaeans  knew  no  bounds,  but  it  was  short- 
lived. Hophra  presently  retreated,  and  the  Chal- 
deans returned.  In  July  58G  a  breach  was  made  in 
the  walls  and  the  city  was  taken  by  storm.  Zede- 
kiah tried  to  flee,  but  was  captured  and  brought  to 
Riblah,  where  his  eyes  were  put  out.  A  second 
deportation  of  the  upper  classes  was  then  made,  and 
only  the  poorest  peasantry  was  left  in  the  land.2 
Thus  the  little  kingdom  of  Judah,  that  had  survived 
the  Assyrian  supremacy,  fell  at  last.  Moab,  Ammon, 
and  Edom  must  have  come  to  terms  with  Nebuchad- 
rezzar in  time  to  save  themselves  from  a  similar 
fate.  Their  troops  were  present  at  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  and  their  joy  over  the  fate  of  their  old 
enemy  was  one  of  the  hardest  things  that  the  Jews 
had  to  bear. 

In  spite  of  Nebuchadrezzar's  double  deportation  a 
large  proportion  of  the  population  still  remained  in 
the  land,  but  this  consisted  of  the  lowest  classes  and 
was  incapable  of  political  organization.  Over  this 
remnant  Gedaliah,  a  friend  of  the  prophetical  party, 
1  ii.  161.  -  2  Kings  xxv.  4-21. 


278  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

was  appointed  governor.  He  went  bravely  to  work 
to  build  up  a  commonwealth  upon  the  ruins  of  the 
old  kingdom,  but  was  presently  assassinated  by 
Ishmael,  a  representative  of  the  house  of  David,  who 
was  jealous  of  the  growing  prosperity  of  the  com- 
munity under  Babylonian  rule.  The  few  remaining 
nobles,  fearing  the  vengeance  of  Nebuchadrezzar,  fled 
to  Egypt,  taking  Jeremiah  and  Baruch  with  them.1 
Iu  punishment  probably  for  this  revolt  a  third  de- 
portation, mentioned  in  Jer.  Hi.  30,  was  made  in  581. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place,  Tyre  was 
being  besieged  for  thirteen  years.52  The  ordinary 
view  is  that  this  siege  began  in  585,  but  it  is  possible 
that  it  began  as  early  as  598.  Nebuchadrezzar  was 
as  unsuccessful  as  all  the  Assyrian  kings  had  been. 
Tyre  preserved  its  independence,  and  lived  to  see  the 
fall  of  the  new  Babylonian  empire. 

About  570  Amasis  succeeded  Hophra,  and  negotia- 
tions were  probably  begun  once  more  to  induce  the 
peoples  of  Syria  to  revolt.  In  568,  accordingly, 
Nebuchadrezzar  sent  an  expedition  which  defeated 
Amasis  and  captured  his  horses  and  troops.3 

After  the  death  of  Nebuchadrezzar  in  562  the 
empire  that  he  had  built  up  went  quickly  to  pieces. 
His  son  Amil-Marduk  (Evil-Merodach)  was  slain  at 
the  end  of  a  two  years'  reign  by  the  priesthood,  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Nergal-shar-utsur  (Neriglissor), 
was  made  king.  During  his  reign  the  inevitable 
struggle  for  supremacy  with   Media,  that   Nabopo- 

1  Jer.  xli.-xliii. ;  2  Kings  xxv.  12,  22-26. 

2  Josephus.  Cont.  Apionem,  i.  21 

3  Strassnieier,  Babylonische  Texte,  vi.,  No.  329. 


THE  NEW  BABYLONIAN  SUPEEMACY    279 

lassar  and  Nebuchadrezzar  bad  averted  by  prudent 
matrimonial  alliances,  at  length  broke  out.  After  a 
reign  of  only  three  years  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Labashi-Marduk  (556),  who  was  almost  immediately 
assassinated.  Nabu-na'id  (Nabonidus),  a  native 
Babylonian,  and  .lence  probably  the  leader  of  a  re- 
action against  the  Chaldeans,  then  succeeded  as  the 
last  king  of  Babylon  (555). 

Nabuna'id  stood  under  the  influence  of  the  priest- 
hood, and  spent  his  entire  time  in  rebuilding  and 
beautifying  the  temples.  To  his  archaeological  zeal 
in  searching  for  the  foundation-records  of  temples 
that  he  restored  we  owe  much  of  our  knowledge  of 
early  Babylonian  chronology.  Such  undertakings 
did  nothing  for  the  defense  of  the  empire,  and  he  fell 
into  disfavour  with  the  military  party.  It  would  seem 
that  for  a  large  part  of  his  reign  his  sovereignty  was 
merely  nominal,  and  that  his  son  Belshazzar  exercised 
all  real  authority. 

The  Medes,  with  singular  fidelity,  kept  their  treaty 
with  Babylon  as  long  as  the  house  of  Nebuchadrezzar 
was  on  the  throne  ;  but  when  it  was  overthrown  by 
Nabuna'id,  they  felt  themselves  absolved  from  further 
obligation,  and  began  to  extend  their  empire  beyond 
the  old  treaty  limits.  Astyages,  the  successor  of 
Cyaxares,  entered  Mesopotamia  and  occupied  the 
ancient  city  of  Haran.  Babylonia  would  presently 
have  fallen  into  his  hands,  but  for  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  a  new  conqueror  upon  the  scene.  Cyrus, 
king  of  Anzan  (a  portion  of  Susiana),  a  vassal  of 
Astyages,  revolted  against  him  in  550  and  defeated 
him.     Thereupon  the  troops  of   Astyages  delivered 


280  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

him  up  to  Cyrus.  Cyrus  then  captured  Ecbatana 
and  carried  its  spoil  to  Anzan,  and  the  Median  em- 
pire was  at  an  end. 

In  547  the  Annals  call  Cyrus  "king  of  Persia"  as 
well  as  "  king  of  Anzan."  The  natural  inference  is 
that  between  550  and  547  he  added  Persia  to  his 
domain.  In  the  same  year  probably  he  began  his 
attack  upon  Croesus,  king  of  Lydia,  whose  kingdom 
in  the  West  he  dreaded  as  a  possible  rival  to  his  own. 
Crcesus  formed  an  alliance  with  Amasis,  king  of 
Egypt,  Nabuna'id,  king  of  Babylon,  and  other  princes 
of  the  West  to  resist  further  advance  on  the  part  of 
Persia;  but  before  troops  could  be  sent  from  the 
various  countries,  Cyrus  appeared  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  Crcesus  rashly  fought  him  single-handed.  He 
was  defeated,  and  with  his  fall  the  most  formidable 
obstacle  to  the  conquest  of  Asia  was  removed. 

For  the  years  546  and  545  the  Annals  report  merely 
that  Nabuna'id  was  in  retirement  at  Tema,  while  his 
son  Belshazzar  was  in  North  Babylonia.  Evidently 
he  was  with  the  army,  waiting  for  the  impending 
attack  of  Cyrus.  The  record  of  the  next  sis  years  is 
broken  out  of  the  Annals  ;  but  in  539  we  are  informed 
that  Nabuna'id,  terrified  at  the  near  approach  of 
Cyrus,  brought  into  Babylon  the  images  of  the  gods 
from  all  parts  of  the  land.  The  army  of  Belshazzar 
was  defeated  at  Upi  (Opis) ;  and  Cyrus  advanced  upon 
Sippar,  where  Nabuna'id  was  residing.  Nabuna'id  fled 
to  Babylon,  and  Sippar  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Persians.  The  main  body  of  Cyrus's  army  then 
marched  against  Babylon  under  the  command  of 
Ugbaru  (Gobryas),  the   city   surrendered   without   a 


THE     NEW     UAHYLOXIAN     SUPREMACY  281 

struggle,  and  Nabuna'id  was  taken  prisoner.  In 
October  539  Cyrus  entered  Babylon  and  was  wel- 
comed as  a  deliverer  by  the  inhabitants.  He  ap- 
pointed Gobryas  governor ;  and  a  little  later,  appar- 
ently, made  bis  son  Cambyses  viceroy. 

With  the  fall  of  Babylon  the  ancient  history  of  the 
Orient  comes  to  an  end.  Up  to  this  time,  in  spite  of 
all  political  changes,  the  Semites,  in  one  branch  or 
another,  have  been  the  dominant  race.  Now  for  the 
first  time  the  sceptre  passes  to  the  Aryans,  and  a 
new  era  is  inaugurated.  The  stupendous  event  by 
which  the  city  that  for  two  thousand  years  had  been 
at  once  the  Athens  and  the  Rome  of  Western  Asia 
lost  its  importance,  marks  also  the  conclusion  of  the 
early  history  of  Syria  and  Palestine. 

During  the  period  of  civil  strife  and  of  growing 
aggression  on  the  part  of  the  Aryans,  Babylonian 
authority  in  Syria  and  Palestine  was  reduced  to  a 
mere  name.  The  western  nations  might  easily  have 
established  their  independence  ;  but  through  repeated 
deportations  and  through  infusions  of  foreign  colo- 
nists they  had  lost  their  national  consciousness,  and 
they  preferred  to  remain  in  bondage.  Meanwhile  the 
Arabians,  whose  advance  Ashurbanipal  had  checked, 
and  who  had  a  wholesome  respect  for  the  power  of 
Nebuchadrezzar,  began  once  more  to  press  forward 
into  Palestine.  The  Edomites  were  driven  out  of 
their  old  home,  and  settled  in  the  south  of  Judah  in 
the  vicinity  of  Hebron.1  JVIoab  also  seems  to  have 
lost  its  national  existence.  When  Nehemiah  under- 
took to  rebuild  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  his  chief  op- 
1  Obad    i.  7;   1  Chron.  ii.  50  ff. 


2S2  SYRIA    AND    PALESTINE 

ponent  was  neither  Edoni  nor  Moab  but  Geshem  the 
Arabian.1 

The  Babylonian  period  closes  with  an  almost  com- 
plete disintegration  of  the  nations  that  had  come  into 
existence  in  consequence  of  the  Aramaean  migration. 
The  old  states,  whose  history  we  have  traced  for  so 
many  centuries,  were  dead,  and  under  the  stimulus, 
first  of  Persia  and  then  of  Greece,  new  states  were 
about  to  come  into  existence.  The  story  of  these 
commonwealths  belongs,  however,  not  to  the  ancient, 
but  to  the  mediaeval  period  of  the  history  of  Syria 
and  Palestine. 

1  Neh.  ii.  19 ;  iv.  7 ;  vi.  1,  2,  6. 


INDEX 


Aahmes,  king,  71-74 

Anilines,  conquest  of  Palestine,  73 

Aahmes,  admiral,  71,  72,  75 

Aaltmes,  wife  of  Tahutimes  I.,  75 

Aahotep,  75 

Aahotep,  wife  of  Seqenenra,  71 

Abd-Ashirta,  101,  116-119 

Abd-khiba,  99,  111,  112,  119 

Abd-milkot.  263,  368 

Abel-betli-maacah,  '-':','.i 

'Abi  in  proper  names,  25 

Abibaal,  186 

Abiezer,  162 

Abiiah,  194-196 

Abil-Ishtar,  18 

Abimelech,  164-165 

Abi-milki,  100 

Abiram,  25 

Abi-ramu,  35 

Abishai,  28,  183 

Aliisliua,  25,  27,  62 

Abiyate,  269 

Abner,  180,  181 

Abraham,  39-42,  44,  123,  139 

Abram,  name  found  in  Babylonia, 
25;  in  Gen.  xiv. ,  31f.  ;  defeats 
Chedorlaomer,  32  ;  date  of,  35  ; 
brother  of  Lot,  38 ;  as  a  warrior, 
39 ;  earlier  than  Aramaean  mi- 
gration, 39 ;  identified  with 
Abraham,  39,  40,  41 ;  etymology, 
40,  local  hero  of  Hebron,  41  ; 
migrates  from  Ur,  42  ;  distinct 
from  Abraham,  44  ;  an  Amorite, 
45;  history,  46 

Achamns,  133 

Achish,  1  15 

Acre,  98 

A  dad,  209 

Adon-Baal,  209 

Adoni-Bezek,  151 

Adoniram,  191 

Adoni-Zedek,  151 

Adoraim,  81 

Adoration  of  the  Pharaoh,  85,  94 


'Aduma,  135 

Afrin,  200 

Agade,  dynasty  of,  15,  17,  18 

Agriculture,  13,  90,  336 

Agumkakriine,  64 

Ahab,  204,  207-210 

Ahaz,  2:.':.',  338,  339,  242,  247 

Ahaziah  of  Israel,  210-212 

Ahaziah  of  Judah,  215,  217,  218 

Ahiel,  204 

Ahijah,  190 

Ai,  153 

Aiyalun,  193 

Ajalon,  193 

Akhenaten,  103 

Akhimiti,  249 

Akhlami,  112,  114,  179 

Akhuni,  200,  306 

Akizzi,  101,  104 

Akka,  98 

Akkad,  267 

Akko,  254,  268,  270 

Alashia,  171 

Aleppo,  92,  128,  208 

Alexander,  364 

Altar,  set  up  by  Ahaz,  242 

Aluna,  79,  193 

Amalekites,  37,  143 

Amanum,  19,  20 

Amanus,  14,  20,  201,  224 

Amarna  letters,  26,  38,  39,  49,  53, 

57,  64,  67,  69,  82-88,  94,  96-102, 

104,  111-120,  170 
Amasis,  278 
Amaziah,  222,  223 
Ambassador,  130,  168-171,  182 
Ambi,  116 
Amen,  81,  85,  87,  95,  103,  123,  169, 

170,  171 
Amenemhat  I.,  56 
Amenemheb,  77,  91,  93 
Amenhotep  I.,  74 
Amenhotep  II.,  94 
Annnhotep  III.,  76,  95-102 
Amenhotep  IV.,  83,  84,  96,  103 


283 


284 


INDEX 


Amenmessu,  136 
Amil-Marduk,  278 
Ammatu,  209 

'Amini,  in  proper  names,  25,  26 
Ammia,  116 
Ammiaushi,  28,  58 

'Ammisadugga,  25,  26,  28 

'Ammisatana,  25,  48 
Arami-tsaduqa,  26 

Ammon,  xvii,  xix,  36,  37,  40,  42, 
43,  114,  123,  148,  150,  153,  155, 
166,  174,  175,  177,  182,  192,  209, 
210,  221,  226,  228,  232,  239,  255, 
262,  269,  276,  277 

Am-mue'n-ski,  28 

Anion,  270 

'Amor,  67,  68,  113 

Amorites,  25,  32,  35,  38,  45,  60,  61, 
67,  68,  70,  78,  82,  90,  97, 105,  115, 
119,  126,  128,  130,  147,  148,  150, 
151,  158,  160,  172,  201 

Amorites,  language,  69 

Amoritic  migration,  25-46  ;  in  Bab- 
ylonia, 25  ;  effect  on  Syria,  29  ; 
on  Babylonia,  29  ;  in  Egypt,  27, 
28 

Amos,  225,  227,  228 

'Amq,  200 

Amqi,  97,  105 

'Amrapbel,  32,  34,  35,  47 

'Amu,  11,  12,  13,  27,  56,  62,  67 

Amurru,  16,  28,  29,  36,  67,  97,  172, 
179 

Anaharath,  SI 

Anakim,  36 

Anath,  158 

Anaugasa,  82,  92,  93,  127 

Aner,  45 

Ankhsenamen,  122 

Ankhsenaten,  122 

Annals  of  Tahutimes  III.,  77-82, 
88-93 

Anointing,  83,  84,  173,  180 

Anrathu,  90 

Anshan,  20-22 

Antediluvians,  52 

Anti-Lebanon,  20 

Anukhertu,  81 

Anzan,  279,  280 

Apepa,  romance  of,  71  • 

Aphek.  167,  208 

Apirak,  17 

Apri,  200 

Aqar,  81 

Aqaywasha,  133 

Arabia,  x,  3,  4,  25,  26,  209,  211,  214, 
233,  226,  235,  247,  248,  259,  263, 


267,  269,  273,  281,  282  ;  see  North 

Arabia,  South  Arabia 
Arabian  migration,  4,  269 
Arados,  90 
Arad-Sin,  30 
Aram,  113,  114,  177 
Aram   and   Edom    confused,    153, 

161,  177 
Aramajans,  4,  39,  41,  103,  112,  113, 

114,  123,  125,  144,  155,  157,  161, 

182,  183,  187,   199,  202,  203,  206, 

211,  228,  229,  231,  245,  250,  267 
Aramaic  language,  156,  231 
Aram  Naharaim,  76, 161 
Aratu,  90 
Araziq,  179 
Archaeology^  small  results  in  Syria 

and    Palestine,    1  ;    bearing    on 

Syria,  x 
Ardata,  116 
Argistis  I.,  223 
Aribi,  235,  263,  268,269 
Aribua,  200 

Arioch,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35 
Arisu,  136 
Ark,  152 
Arka  254 
Armenia,  205,   219,  223,  224,  230, 

233,  234,  24S 
Armenian  and  Hittite,  108 
Armenian  language,  223 
Arnon,  217,  219 
Aroana,  92 
Aroer,  217,  219 

Arpad,  201,  220,  224,  229,  230,   246 
Arsus,  20 
Art  of  Syria,  55 
Artatama,  95 
Arvad,   90,  98,  127,  145,  146.  179, 

180,  201,209,239,  255 
Arwada,  98 
Arzaua,  104,  107 
Asa,  195-197,  203-204 
Asaru,  125 

Ashdod,  226,  249,  250,  255 
Asher,  126,  151 
Ashkelon,  98,  101,    130,  134,  239, 

242,  255 
ABhkuza,  274 
Ashtar-Chemosh,  216 
Ashtaroth,  49,  51,  81 
Ashtart,  51,  55, 110 
Ashtarti,  49 
Ashtoreth,  51 
Ashur,  179 

Ashurbanipal.  16,  30.  245,  265  ;  in- 
vasion of  Egypt,  266  ;  war  with 


index 


285 


Elam,  2<',f, ;  war  with  Babylon, 
267;  invasion  of  Arabia,  2I>.>  ; 
later  years,  270 

Ashurbelnislirsliu,  66 

Asliur-dan  I..  ITS 

Ashur-dan  II.,  180 

Ashur-dan  III..  224 

Ashuretililani  (ukini),  '.'72 

Asliurnatsirpal.  158,  199;  conquers 
Mesapotanua,  200 ;  conquers  Sy- 
ria, 200;  government,  201 

Ashurnirari  II.,  224 

Ashiirr.-shishi,  179 

Ashuruballit,  178 

Asi,  146 

Asqaluna,  98 

Assyria,  chronology,  xv-xviii ;  be- 
ginning, 65 ;  strife  with  Babylon, 
66;  relations  with  Egypt,  L02, 
130;  ris.'.  157,178;  periods  of 
decline.  178,  180;  invaded  by 
Aramaeans,  199;  opposed  by  Ar- 
menia. 219 ;  period  of  decline, 
223,  224;  supremacy,  199-270; 
fall,  271  274 

Assyrian  monuments,  value  for 
history  of  Syria,  x 

Astarte,  51 

Astiratu,  81 

Astyages,  279 

Atargatis,  110 

Ataroth,  203,  215 

Aten,  103,  122,  124 

Athaliah,  204,  218 

Auaris,  66,  71,  72,  75 

Audira'a,  81 

Authorities,  citation  of,  x 

Avith.  163 

Ay,  124 

Azariah.  223.  225-227,  233 

'Azaz,  200,  251 

Aziru,  101,  105,  115,  118,  119,  120. 
126 

Azriyau.  233,  234 

Azuri,  240 

Azzati,  98 

Baal,  god,  186,  241 
Baal,  king,  255,  262-265 
Ba'alat,  117 
Baal-berith,  165 

Baal-ezer,  209 

Haal-meon,  216 

Baarutu,  81 

Biasha,  of  Israel,  195-197 

Baasha,  of  Amnion,  200 

Babylon,  beginning  of  importance, 


17  ;  religious  supremacy,  48;  cut 
off  from  Syria  by  Mitanni,  85; 

strife  with  Assyria,  66:  relations 
with  Egypt,  76;  Chaldean  dy- 
nasty, 245 ;  conquered  by  Sai- 
gon, 251 ;  by  AshurbanipaL,  268; 
new(  baldean  dynasty,  212,  274; 
captured  by  Cyrus,  280 

Babylonia,  xi,  xiii  xviii,  25,  47, 
48,  63,  99,  102,  115,  157,  172,  178, 
220,  262,  281 

Babylonian  deities,  49 

Babylonian  influence,  in  names  of 
Syria,  40,  50;  in  Egyptian  or- 
thography, 50;  in  Syrian  relig- 
ions, 50,200;  on  Hebrew  tradi- 
tions, 52;  on  religion  of  Israel, 
54 ;  on  dress  of  Syria,  55 ;  on 
art,  55;  on  civilization,  57;  on 
Hittites,  109 

Babylonian  language  in  Amarna 
letters,  49,  96  ;  language  of  diplo- 
m  u-y,  57 

Babylonian  monuments,  value  for 
history  of  Syria,  x,  2,  14 

Babylonian  Semitic  migration,  6  ; 
its  date,  7 ;  extent,  S  ;  represent- 
ation in  Egyptian  monuments,  9 

Badir,  Ills 

Balaam,  143,  152 

Balak,  152 

Barak,  184 

Bar-Rekub,  235,  240,  241 

Bar-Rekub,  inscription  of,  241 

Barsip,  19 

Bar-Tsur,  230,  236,  240,  241 

Baruch,  278 

Bashan,  98,  150,  152,  219 

Beeroth,  81 

Beirut,  81.  08,  106,  127,  218 

Bela,  38,  143,  153 

Bel-nirari,  178 

Belshazzar,  280 

Bene  Qedem,  5S 

Benhadad  L,  187,  195,  196,  203 

Benhadad  II.,  204,  207,  208-210, 
213,  215 

Benhadad  III.,  220-222 

Benjamin,  159 

Beth-Anath,  81,  120,  193 

Beth- Arli. 4,  228 

Beth-Baal-Maon,  217 

Beth-bamoth,  217 

Beth-diblathaim,  217 

Beth-Eden,  155 

Bethel,  81,  153,  154,  195 

Beth-horon,  193 


2S6 


INDEX 


Beth-lehem,  52 
Beth-Rehob,  182 
Beth-iShemesh,  51,  223 
Bethuel,  39 
Beth-zitti,  254 
Bezek,  151 
Bezer,  217 
Bilhah,  151 
Bir-hidri,  195,  209 
Biruta,  98 
Birutu.  81 

Bit  Adini,  155,  200,  206 
Biti-Aniti,  81,  129,  193 
Bitihuarun,  193 
Bitisha'li,  81 
Bit-Khumri,  204 
Bit-Ninib,  49,  51 
Bit-sha-ilu,  49 
Bitter  Lakes,  58,  140 
Bit- Y akin,  245 
Blond  race  in  Syria,  5 
Boghaz  Keui,  104 
Boomerang,  12,  61,  62 
Boots,  109 
Booty,  see  Spoil 

Borchardt,   on   Egyptian  chronol- 
ogy, xii 
Boss  of  Tar-qu  (?)-dim(?;-me,  108 
Bumabula  (?),  116 
Burnaburiash,  76,  97,  102,  115 
Bur-Sin,  23 

Cambyses,  281 

Camels,  248 

Canaan,  invaded  by  Amorites,  28  ; 
in  Egyptian  records,  68  ;  mean- 
ing, 68 ;  in  Amarna  letters,  97  ; 
in  Merenptah  inscription,  134 ; 
invaded  by  Amorites,  146 ;  in- 
vaded by  Amorites  and  Hittites, 
148  ;  by  Philistines,  149 ;  by  Is- 
rael, 150 

Canaanisms  in  names  of  first  dy- 
nasty of  Babylon,  25 ;  in  letters 
of  first  dynasty,  26 ;  in  Amarna 
letters,  49,  96 

Canaanites,  migration,  67,  70  ;  in 
O.  T. ,  68  ;  relation  to  Amorites, 
69 ;  language,  70 ;  origin,  73  ;  re- 
volt from  Amenhotep  III.,  102; 
unite  against  Israel,  151  ;  against 
Joshua,  154  ;  union  with  Israel, 
44,  155  ;  influence  on  Israel,  44  ; 
absorbed  by  Israel,  165 

Canaanitic  loan-words  in  Egyptian, 
28 

Canal,  273 


Caphtor,  145 

Captivity,  see  Deportation 

Caravan,  62,  86,  115,  158 

Carchemish,  104, 106, 127,  130,  145, 
146,  158,  179,  200,  206,  235,  248, 
274 

Carthage  in  Cyprus,  186 

Cassius,  Mount,  20 

Cattle,  226 

Cedars,  92,  186,  201,  224 

Cesnola.  seal  discovered  by,  18 

Chaldeans,  245,  250,  267,  271,  274, 
276,  277,  279 

Chantre,  discoveries.  104 

Chariots,  74,  79,  82,  110 

Chedorlaomer,  32,  33,  34,  39 

Chemosh,  203.  213,  215,  216 

Chemosh-melek,  203,  215 

Cheops,  10 

Cherethites,  149,  181 

Cherubim,  52 

Chinneroth,  81 

Chronology,  xi,  xii,  216,  223,  233, 
246,  247,  252,  259 

Cilicia,  92,  201 .  207 

Cities,  inlistofTahutim.es  III.,  81  ; 
of  Northern  Syria.  92  ;  in  Amar- 
na letters,  98 ;  in  list  of  Shishak, 
193 

Civilization,  70,  88.  102 

Clay  tablets.  57,  170 

Comagene,  106 

Commerce,  see  Trade 

Concubines,  61,  86 

Corvee,  132 

Courier,  56,  57,  83,  86,  114,  118 

Creation,  -account  of,  52 

Crete,  92,  109,  145 

Crocodile,  180 

Croesus,  280 

Cushan  Rishathaim,  161 

Cush  (Ethiopia),  258,  264 

Cushites,  Arabian,  196,  197,  214, 
268 

Cyaxares,  272,  374 

Cyprus,  146,  171,  186,  244,  249, 
251,  254,  263,  279-281 

Dadkara,  10 

Dagan,  51 

Dagon,  51 

Damascus,  xvi.,  32,  38,  81,  97,  98. 

105,  113,  155,  180,  183,  187,  194, 

195,  201,  203,  206-210,  213,  215. 

224,  218-221,  225,  232,  235,  236. 

237.  239.  240,  242,  246 
Dan,  39,  151 


i.M)i:x 


2S7 


I  tanaoi,  145 

Danauna,  145 

Dapur,  180 

Dardanians.  127 

Dardeny,  127 

Darmeseq,  1 13 

David,  early  life,  177;  reign  over 
Judah,  180;  over  [srael  Is!  L87; 
war  with  Philistines,  181  ;  with 
Moab  and  Amnion,  183;  with 
Aramaeans,  183;  extent,  of  rule, 
l  s  i ;  conquest  of  Edom,  1*1  ; 
relation  to  Phoenicians,  186; 
later  years.  186 

Dead  Sea.  225 

Deborah,  159-1(50 

Deborah,  song  of.  152,  159,  165 

Deir  el  Balm,  find  of  mummies, 
71 

Deportation,  284.  239,  245,  '.'76-278 

Deputies  of  Pharaoh,  S3,  86,  105, 
121 

Derketo,  110 

Deuteronomy  discovered.  272 

Devotion  of  objects  to  the  deity, 
216 

Dibon,  215-217 

Dilmun,  20,  251 

Dimashqa,  98 

Dinhabah,  15:! 

Diplomatic  relations  between  Bab- 
ylon and  Egypt.  76 

Divinity,  claimed  by  Naram-Sin, 
18 

Dolphin,  179 

Dor,  149,  168,  190 

Dorians,  144 

Dress  of  Syrians.  61 ,  55,  62 ;  of 
Amorites  61  ;  of  Hittites,  109 

Drought,  205 

Dudu,  105 

Dungi,  21,22,  23 

Dushratta,  104, 115 

DVVDH,  216 

E,  Pentateuchal  document,  68 

"Eaa.  59 

Earliest  inhabitants,  not  Semites, 
4  ;  blond  race,  5  ;  erected  megal- 
iths, 5;  belonged  to  Kelto-Liliy. ui 
race,  6  ;  did  not  survive  in  later 
people,  6 

Ebenzer,  168 

Eber,  114 

Ebishum,  25 

Ecbatana,  280 

Ecdippa,  254 


v,  169,  17:;,  174 

Eden,  52 

Edom,  xvii-xix,  87,  38,  40,  42,  13, 
44,  96,  114,  L24,  135,  14:;.  1  I''. 
150,  15:;,  101,  163,  L75,  177,  183, 
L84,  L88,  192,  209,  211,  212,  214, 
221,222.326,  228,  239,  250,255, 
262,  269,  276,  277,  281 

Eglon,  L54,  160 

Egypt,  chronology,  xi,  xiii-xviii ; 
early  exclusiveness,  2,  9;  expe 
ditions  to  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  10; 
Vltli  dynasty,  10;  expedition  of 
Una,  11-18;  Vl-XIth  dynasty, 
27 ;  invaded  by  Amorites,  27 ; 
XI  and  Xllth  dynasties,  55; 
mercenary  troops.  60;  under 
Hyksos  rale,  66  ;  XVIlth  dynas- 
ty, 71  ;  XVIIIth  dynasty,  65 
71 ,  74 ;  relations  with  Babylonia 
76;  under  Tahutimes  III.,  94 
power  under  Tahutimes  IV. .  95 
under  Amenhotep  III.,  90.  98 
decline.  108,  120,  123 ;  recovery 
under  Horemheb,  125;  XlXth 
dynasty,  125;  anarchy,  187; 
XXth  dynasty,  144,  147;  end  of 
rule  in  Syria.  147,  172;  XX- 
XXVth  dynasties,  157 ;  sends 
present  to  Tiglath-pileser  I.,  180; 
activity  under  Shishak  I.,  189; 
XXIId  dynasty,  191.  192;  de- 
cline, 243 ;  negotiates  with 
Syrian  states,  253 ;  XXVth 
dynasty,  258 ;  conquered  by 
Esarhaddon.  264,265;  XXVIth 
dynasty,  206 ;  conquered  by 
Ashurbanipal.  200 

Egyptian    monuments,    value    for 
history  of  Syria,  x,  2,  8   10,  18 

Egyptian   orthography    influenced 
by  Babylonian,  50 

Ehud,  160 

Eithobalos,  202 

Ekron,  81,  252,  255,  256 

'El,  241 

Elah,  197 

Elam,  xiv,  xviii,  16,  20,  21,  29-32, 
157,  172,  245,  251,  266-268,  272 

Elath,  226 

El-berith,  165 

Elders,  84,  87 

El-Ely  on,  39 

Elephants,  91,  180 

Eliakim,  274 

Elisha,  212,  217 

Ellasar,  32,  34 


288 


INDEX 


Eltekeh,  255 

Elulaios,  244,  254 

Emim,  36,  37 

Emutbal,  30,  31,  47 

Eni-el,  246 

Eninnu,  19,  20 

En-mishpat,  38 

Entering  in  of  Hamath,  184,  225 

Ephraim,  124,  154,  159,    161,   162, 

167 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  identified 

with  Joseph,  42,  43,  154 
Ephron,  195 

Eponym  Canon,  199,  224,  333 
Erech,  xiv,  30 

Eri-Aku,  30,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  47 
Erri-E-a-ku,  =  Aroch  (?),  33 
Esarhaddon,  accession,  262  ;  takes 

Sidon,  262,  263  ;  invades  Arabia, 

263  ;  siege  of  Tyre,  264  ;  invasion 

of  Egypt,  264,  265  ;  stele  of  Len- 

jirli,  265 
Esau,  identified  with  Edom,  42,  43 
Esdraelon,  78,  82,  167,  177,  273 
Eshcol,  45 

Ethbaal  of  Sidon,  255,  262 
Ethbaal  of  Tyre,  202 
Ethiopia,  99,  258,  266 
Etymologies  of  Hebrew  names,  37 
Euphrates,  91,  178,   179,  184,  200, 

206,  208,  213,  275 
Evil-Merodach,  278 
Exile  of  Jews,  276-278 
Exodus  of  Israel,  133,  134,  137, 140 
Extradition,  131 
Eye-paint,  62 
Ezekiel,  271 
Ezion-geber,  188,  190,  212,  214,  226 

Fenkhu,  73 

Fleet,  190,  212 

Flood-story,  52 

Formula?  of  address  in  Amarna  let- 
ters, 99 

Fortresses  of  Egyptians  in  Syria, 
82 ;  of  Assyrians,  202 

Gabula,  115,  116 

Gad,  150,  151,  155,  216,  219 

Galilee,  239 

Galuruda,  19 

Gandash,  03 

Gar,  97 

Gargisha,  127 

Gar-imiri-shu,  38 

Gath,  81,  181,  226 

Gaza,  78,  98,  100, 193,  220,  239, 216 


Gazira,  81 

Gazzatu,  78,  193 

Geba,  167,176,  196 

Gebal,  85,  98,  127,  172,  201,  235 

Gedaliah,  277 

Gen.  xiv,  source,  31  ;  contents.  32 ; 
gives  correctly  names  of  Bab. 
kings,  32  ;  gives  kingdoms  cor- 
rectly, 34;  gives  contemporary 
kings  correctly.  35 ;  rests  on 
documentary  authority,  35  ;  not 
borrowed  during  the  exile  ;  de- 
rived from  ancient  Palestinian 
source,  36,  45  ;  names  of  tribes 
archaic,  36 ;  objections  to  their 
historicity,  27  ;  does  not  name 
late  races.  37 ;  names  of  places 
archaic,  38 ;  further  objections, 
39  ;  identification  of  Abram  and 
Abraham,  39 

Oentu,  81 

Gerar,  81 ,  226 

Gerara,  82 

Gerjin,  230 

Geshem,  282 

Geshur,  155 

Gezer,  81,  134, 189 

Gibbethon,  195,  197 

Gibeah,  171,  174 

Gibeon,  148,  193 

Gideon,  162-164 

Gilboa,  177,  178 

Gilead,  152,  165,  166,  174,  219,  228, 
239 

Gilgal,  153 

Gilgamesh,  53 

Gilukhipa,  108 

Gimil-Sin,  23 

Gindibu,  209 

Gish-ukh  (?),  chronology,  xiii 

Glaser,  discoveries  in  Arabia,  26, 
65 

Glosses  in  Amarna  letters,  96 

Gobryas,  280,  281 

Goiim,  32 

Gold  of  bravery,  72,  75,  76 

Gomorrah,  22 

Goshen,  124 

Government,  by  early  Babylonian 
kings,  23 ;  by  Egyptians,  82 ;  by 
Assyrians,  201 

Gozan,  245 

Greece,  282 

Gubin,  19 

Gubla,  105,  106,  112,  115,  116,  117 

Gudea,  trade  with  Syria,  19,  21 

Gur,  226 


tNDEX 


ti.st* 


Gurgum.    106,    107,  206,  229,   2:;.".. 

237,250 
Guti,  16 

Badad  I.,  163 

Hadad  II..  175,  lsr> 

Badad  III..  L88 

Badad,  god,  281,  286 

Hadad  inscription,  230,231,241 

Badadezer,  183,  L87 

Hadar,  175,  185 

Badoram,  L8S 

Badrach,  155,224 

Bagar,  L23 

Hair,  manner  of  wearing,  61,  62 

Balevy,  discoveries  in  Arabia,  05 

Baiting-places,  82 

Bamath,  81,  92,  155,  is:;.  201,  209, 
233,  234,  235,  246,  247,  273,  277 

Bamatbite  inscriptions,  108 

Bamath  Zobah,  183,  187 

Hanior,  165 

Hanno,  230,  247,  426 

Hamni,  L82 

Haparuma,  193 

Hapharaim.  193 

Baran,  42,  270 

Harris  Papyrus,  136 

Harvest  reaped  by  conqueror,  82, 90 

Batibi.  171 

Hats,  110 

Hatshepsnt,  77 

Hatuart.  72 

Ha  man,  209 

Hazael,  187,  215,  217,  218,  210.  220 

Hazor,  154,  239 

Hebraisms  in  Amarna  Letters,  69 

Hebrew  language,  69,  155 

Hebrew  spoken  by  writers  of 
Amarna  letters,  96 

Hebrew,  applied  to  Abram.  45 

Hebrews,  traditions  of  patriarchs, 
31  ;  first  appearance,  40  ;  relation 
to  Khabiri,  40,  113;  Aramaean 
origin,  30,  114;  descent  from 
Abraham,  30,  41  ,  traditions,  52; 
influenced  by  Babylonia.  53 

Hebron.  40.  66,  154,  180,  281 

Heirs  to  Syrian  thrones,  84 

U.rakles,  110 

Herakleopolis,  27 

Heres,  22 

Hermon,  20.  22, 182,  184 

Herodotus.  200.  273,  277 

Heru-sha.  11.12 

Hezekiah,  247,  249,  252,  255.  250 
201 


Hezion,  187 

Biel,  204 

I  [ieroglypbs  of  Hittites,  107 

Hippopotamus,  180 

Hiram  I.,  L86,    189 

I  liram  II. ,  235 

Hittites,  xv,  38,91,  103-110,  110, 
lis,  IP.),  121,  123,  126,  127,130, 
184,  1  15,  1  17.  1  is,  [55,  159,  179, 
20(),2i)0,  207,  208,  313,  220,  224, 
248,  350,  202;  invade  Syria.  103 
105;  identity  with  Khate,  106; 
names,  100,  108;  hieroglyphs, 
107;  language,  108 ;  race,  109; 
representation  in  Egyptian 
monuments,  109 ;  armament, 
100;  religion,  110;  wars  with 
Ramessu  II.,  127-130;  treaty 
with  Rames«u  II. ;  migration  into 
Palestine.  148 

Hittites,  hieroglyphs  of,  107 

Bivites,  147 

Hobah,  32 

Hophra,  276-278 

Hop  mheb,  124 

Horim,  37 

Horites,  37 

Horonaim,  217 

Horses,  73,  82,  03 

Hosea,  227,  228 

Hoshea,  240.  242-244 

Hostages,  83,  84,  80.  223 

Human  sacrifice,  100.  213,  238 

Hunting,  91,  96,  179 

Hnrenkeru,  82 

Hushatn,  161,  162 

Hyksos,  66-73 

I. ,  nsed  as  pref ormative,  26 

Ibla,  19,  20 

Ibleam,  81.  218 

Ibsha  =  Abishai,  28 

Idi-bi'il,  239 

lion,  184,  239 

Ilu-bani,  18 

Ilu-bi'di.  234 

Images  of  Pharaoh.  85 

Incense  offered  to  Pharaoh,  85,  94 

India,  273 

Ini-ilu,  246 

Inilu.  235 

Inti,  9 

Ionians,  127 

Irkhulina.  209 

Irqana,  209 

1  rqata,  85 

Isaac,  44,  124 


290 


INDEX 


Isaiah,  225,  227,  232,  253,  261 

Ishbaal,  181 

Ishbosheth,  181 

Ishmael,  41,  124,  277 

Ishmi-Dagan,  66 

Ishtar,  51 

Iskhupri,  264 

Ispuinis,  219,  223 

Israel,  114,  124,  154;  chronology, 
xv,  xvii ;  relation  to  Khabiri, 
40  ;  ancestor  of  nation,  41  ;  iden- 
tified with  Jacob,  42,  43 ;  rela- 
tion to  Edom,  44  ;  first  appear- 
ance, 124 ;  migration  to  Egypt, 
124  ;  enslaved,  132 ;  exodus,  133  ; 
in  Merenptah  stele,  134  ;  relation 
to  Yahweh,  138,  141;  religion, 
141  ;  residence  in  desert,  142  ;  en- 
trance into  Canaan,  150 ;  war 
with  Canaanites,  151 ;  union  with 
Canaanites,  155 ;  war  with  Sisera, 
158 ;  defeated  by  Philistines, 
167 ;  delivered  by  Saul.  176 ;  sep- 
arated from  Judah,  191 ;  control 
of  Judah,  205 ;  wasted  by  Ben- 
hadad  III. ,  220 ;  tributary  to  As- 
syria, 221 ;  prosperity  under  Je- 
hoash,  222 ;  under  Jeroboam 
II,  225,  227;  civil  strife,  232; 
Syro-Ephraimitic  war,  238  ;  end 
of  kingdom,  245. 

Issachar,  152,  159 

Itakkama,  111 

Itamara,  248 

J,  Pentateuchal  document,  68 

Jabesh,  174,  175 

Jabneh, 226 

Jabin,  154,  158 

Jacob,  114,  126, 154;  in  inscription 
of  Tahutimes  III. ,  42,  43  ;  iden- 
tified with  Israel,  42,  43 

Jacob-god,  26,  42,  81 

Jael,  160 

Jahaz,  203,  216 

Jair,  165 

Janoah, 239 

Japhet,  5 

Jarmuth,  154 

Jebus,  38 

Jebusites,  148 

Jehoahaz,  219,  220,  222,  273 

Jehoash  (Joash)  of  Israel,  222,  223 

Jehoiachin,  276 

Jehoiakim,  274-276 

Jehoram  (Joram)  of  Judah,  204, 
213-215 


Jehoshaphat,  203-204,  210-213 

Jehosbebah,  218 

Jehu,  217,  218,  219 

Jensen,  on  geography  of  Gudea,  20 

Jensen,  Hittite  decipherment,  108 

Jephthah,  166 

Jeremiah,  271,  276,  278 

Jericho,  153,  204 

Jeroboam  I.,  191-195 

Jeroboam  II.,  223,  225,  226,  227,  231 

Jerusalem,  38,  49,  98,  111,  119, 154. 
193,  194,  215,  220,  223,  226,  252, 
255,  256,  276,  277 

Jeshanah, 195 

Jezebel,  202,  204,  218 

Jezreel,  217 

Joab,  181,  182,  183,  184 

Jo-baal,  164 

Joash  of  Judah,  218,  220,  222 

Jonah,  225 

Jonathan,  176,  178 

Joppa,  81,  98,  100 

Joram  of  Israel,  207,  212,  213.  217 

Joseph,  in  inscription  of  Tahutimes 
III.,  43; 

Joseph,  identified  with  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh,  42,  43,  154 

Joseph-el,  81,  154 

Joseph-god,  26,  42 

Joshua,  153-154 

Josiah,  272,  273 

Jotham,  232,  238 

Judah,  150,  151,  160;  chronology, 
xvii,  xix  ;  territory  after  division 
of  kingdom,  191  ;  vassal  of  Israel, 
205  ;  not  named  in  earlier  Assy- 
rian records,  205,  209,  221  ;  weak- 
ness under  Jehoram,  215 ;  pros- 
perity under  Uzziah,  225,  227 ; 
independence  under  Uzziah  and 
Jotham,  232 ;  Syro-Ephraimitic 
war,  238  ;  tributary  to  Sargon, 
245  ;  vassal  of  Sargon,  250;  revolt 
from  Sennacherib,  252 ;  negoti- 
ates with  Egypt,  253 ;  invaded  by 
Sennacherib,  256 ;  subjection  to 
Assyria,  270  ;  fall,  277 

Kadesh  on  the  Orontes,  see  Qa- 

desh 
Kadesh  Barnea,  38,  124,  138,  141, 

152,  239 
Kadytis,  273 
Kagalad  (ki),  19,  20 
Kandalanu,  268 
Karaindash,  63,  66,  76 
Karal,  230,  231 


INDKX 


291 


Karaput,  129 

Karbanit,  2»i<> 

Karduniasli.  L02 

Kaiikamasha,  91 

Karkhar,  22 

Karnaim,  225 

Kaslislii,  99,  115,  11G 

Kassites,  63,  TO,  254 

Katsala,  16 

Kebar,  287 

Kedar,  269,  370 

Kefto,  92,  L09,  1  15 

Kenezites,  151 

Kenites.  151,  160 

Kerak,  22 

Kerioth,  '216 

Keturah,  123,  139 

Khabiri,  39,  40.115-121,  123,125; 
invade  Syria,  111  ;  identity  with 
.S'.l-  GAS,  111  ;not  "allies."  II I  ; 
were  Aramaeans,  112;  not  Israel- 
ites, 113;  were  Hebrews,  114; 
invade  Palestine,  119 

Kha-em-weset,  170 

Khai,  105 

Khakhum.  19 

Khalbu,  92,  128,  146 

Khalman,  208 

Khamatu,  81,92 

Khammurabi,  25,  32-35,  39,  47, 
48 

Khani,  63,  118,  206 

Kharshi.  22 

Kharu,  37,  134.  136,  168 

Khatarika,  224 

Khate,  91,  104,  106,  134,  146 

Khatesera,  106,  108,  109,  127,  129, 
130-132,  159 

Kbatti,  104,  106 

Khattusar,  106 

Kha-ya-nu,  27 

Khazazi,  200 

Khazazu,  221 

Khazi,  112 

Kherapasera.  1 29 

Klinumhotep,  tomb  of,  27,  55,  61 

Khrikhor,  147,  149,  168 

Khufu,  10 

Kliukhnnri,  23 

Khumbanigash,  245 

Khumurti,  22 

Khyan,  27 

Kidinkhutrudash,  157 

Kiraash,  19.  20,  22 

Kings,  of  Syria,  S3,  144 

Kinakhkhi,  97 

Kinakhna,  97 


Kinakhni,  97 

Kinneratu,  81 

Kir.  242 

Kir-hareseth,  212 

Kir-heres,  22 

Kirjathaim.  21<i 

Kish,  xiii,  254 

Kittmm,  244 

Kinlui   |j;ighgarnal  =  Chedorlaomer, 

Kudur-Laghamar  =  Chedorlaomer, 

34 
Kudur  Mabuk,  30,  31,  34,47 
Kndnr-Nankhundi,  29,  30,  34 

Kudur-Nankhundi  II..  157 
Kudurnukhgamar  =  Chedorlaomer 

(?)  :;:; 
Kullani.  233 
Kumidi.  84 
Kummukh,  230 
Kunalua,  200 
Kundi,  263 
Kupni,  92 
Kurigalzu  I.,  102 
Kurigalzn  II.,  178 
Kushtashpi,  230 
Kutha,  245 
Kyinda,  263 

Laban,  39,  114,  124 

Labashi-Marduk,  279 

Labour,  exacted  of  captives,  183 

Lachish,  98,  154,  223,  257 

Lagash,  xiii,  14 

Laghamar,  34 

Lahmu,  52 

Laish,  81 

Lakish,  98 

Lapaya,  100,  119,  120 

Larsa,  30,  33,  34 

Leah  tribes,  138,  142,  143,  150,  151, 
152,  159 

Lebanon,  14,  20,  92,  94,  120,  179, 
184 

Lehmann,  on  chronology,  xi. 

Letters  of  first  Babylonian  dynas- 
ty, 26  ;  from  Kumidi,  84  ;  from 
Tunip,  84  ;  from  Irqata,  85 ;  from 
Tunip,  88 ;  from  Yitia,  101  ; 
from  Burnaburiash,  102;  from 
Tarkhundaraush,  104  ;  from 
Abd-khiba,  112,  120;  from  Rib- 
Addi,  115-119 

Levi,  150,  151,  160 

Levies,  made  on  Syrians,  86 

Levites,  151 

Libations,  171 


292 


INDEX 


Libnah,  214 

Libyans,  134,  144,  196 

Limassol,  186 

Lions,  56,  96,  268 

Lodebar,  225 

Lot,  38,  42,  43,  59,  123 

Lotan,  38,  42.  59,  123 

Loyalty,  professed  by  Syrians,  99 

Lu'barna,  200,  206 

Lubim,  196 

Lugalzaggisi,  14,  15 

Luisa,  81 

Luka,  127,  133 

Luli,  244,  254,  255 

Lulubu,  22 

Lutipris,  219 

Lycians,  12,  17,  133 

Lydia,  280 

Lykos  river,  127 

Maacah,  155,  182 

Ma'al,  14 

Machir,  159,  165 

Madga,  19 

Madyas,  274 

Mafk,  9 

Magan,  17 

Magdal,  81 

Magdali,  98 

Magidda,  98 

Mahanaim,  181,  193 

Mahanaima,  193 

Ma'in,  250,  253,  269 

Maketa,  78,  81,  193 

Makhalliba,  254 

Mamre,  32,  45 

Manakhbiria,  83,  88 

Manasseh,  124,  154,  159,  165,  219 

Manasseh,  king,  261,  262,  267,  268, 

270 
Manni,  130 
Marama,  81,  129 
Mar'ash,  22,  206,  150 
Marduk,  63 
Marduknadinakhe,  180 
Marduk-zakir-shum,  251 
Mari',230,  221,  222 
Markhashi,  22 
Marqasi,  250 
Martsuati,  222 
Martu,  16, 19,  20,  23,  28-30,  36,  48, 

97,  105 
Masa,  127 
Matan-Baal,  239 
Mataniah,  276 
Matiel,  229 
Matin-Baal,  209 


Mat-Khumri,  204,  221 

Mat  red,  175 

Maurasera,  106,  126,  127,  159 

Mautallu,  106,  127 

Medeba,  203,  216,  217 

Media,  xviii,  245,  271,  274,  278-280 

Mediterranean,  reached  by  Lugal- 
zaggisi,  15  ;  crossed  by  Sargon  I., 
17  ;  reached  by  (iudea.  19;  by  Tig- 
lath-pileser  I.  179;  by  Ashuru- 
atsirpal,  201  ;  by  Shalmaneser 
II.,  206 

Megalithic  remains,  5 

Megiddo,  78-81,  98,  160,  193,  218, 
273 

Melchizedek,  32,  39,  45 

Melitene,  229 

Melukhkha,  19,  20,  249,  250,  255, 
263,  269 

Memphis,  264,  266 

Menahem,  231,235 

Menander,  186-202,  244,  254,  264 

Menase,  262 

Men tiu,  67 

Mentu,  9,  11 

Menuas,  223 

Menus,  20 

Mercenaries,  60 

Merchants,  57,  61,  139,  158 

Merenptah,  peace  with  Hittites, 
132 ;  war  with  Libyans  and  Sea- 
peoples,  133  ;  not  Pharaoh  of  the 
exodus,  133-135;  Israel  stele.  134 

Merodach-baladan,  245,  246,  249, 
250,  251,  252,  254 

Merom,  81,  128,  129 

Mertaten,  122 

Meryra,  10,  94 

Mesha,  203,  210,  213,  215,  222 

Mesha  Inscription,  150,  202.  215 

Mesopotamia,  64, 178,  179,  206, 229, 
272 

Messengers,  see  Couriers 

Methushael,  52 

Meunim,  210,  211,  226 

Micaiah,  210 

Michmash,  176 

Midas,  249 

Middle  empire,  in  Egypt,  55 

Midian,  124,  139,  152,  160,  162, 163, 
185 

Migdol.  81 

Mighty  King,  116 

Migrations,  of  the  Semites,  4 ;  of 
European  tribes,  133,  144 

Uimeans.  26.  41,  65,  190,  197,  211, 
226,  243,  250,  263 


INDEX 


2t>3 


Minu.  19,  20,  23 

Mita,  848 

Mitanni.  xv,  64,  65,  70,  74.  91,  92 

95,  102,  104,  108,   115,  116,  180, 

140.  165,  178 
Mitinna.  342 
Mitinti,  289,  242 
Mitsr(a)iin,  185,  243 
Mitsrim  and  .Mutsim  confused,  185, 

207.  243 
Mizpeh,  166 
MKhRTli,  ■.'If, 

Moab,  xvii,  xix,  36,  37,  40,  4:2,  4:;, 
111.  123,  144,  148,  150,  152,  15;;, 
160,  161,  163,  177,  182,  192,  202, 
209-213,  215,  210,  221.  222,  225, 
22S,  239,  250,  255,  262,  260,  270, 
277,  281 

Moabitc  language,  69,  96 

Moabite  Stone,  215 

Moriah,  16 

Moschi,  144 

Moses,  birth,  137 ;  residence  at 
Sinai,  137  ;  inaugural  vision,  140  ; 
leader  in  exodus,  140 ;  united 
Israel,  141 ;  residence  at  Kadesh, 
142;  conquests  east  of  Jordan, 
152 

Mounds  of  brick  work,  55 

Mummies,  found  at  Deir  el  Bahri, 
71 

Muriq-Tidnim,  23 

Mushant.  127 

Muski,  249 

Mutakkil-Nusku,  179 

Mutallu,  107,  206,  250 

Muteniua.  95 

Mutsri,  in  Arabia,  153,  175,  181, 
185,  188,  239,  243,  246,  247,  248, 
249,  250,  252,  253,  2.55.  209 

Mutsri,  Brook  of,  153,  275 

Mutsri  in   Cilicia,    178,    179,   207, 

208,  209 
Mutsuri,  262 
Mysians,  127 

Mythology  of  Syria,  derived  from 
Babylonia,  53 

Na.bat.eans,  211,  269,  270 
Nabayati,  269 
Nabonidus.  279-281 
Nabopolassar,  271-274 
Nabn,  52 

Nabuna'id,  16,  279-281 
Nadab,  195 
Naharaim,  76.  97 
Naharma,  76,  78,  92,  94,  127 


Nahash,  174,  182 

Nahor,  114 

Nahr-cl-Kelb,  127,  201 

Nairi,  179 

Nakhrirna,  97,  99 

Names,  in  Gen.  xiv,  not  Baby- 
lonian spell  in  g,  35;  of  tribes  in 
Gen.  mv,  :;».  ;  of  places  in  Gen. 
xiv,  38:  Babylonian  formations, 
49;  of  Hittites,  100,  108;  of 
places  in  Amarna  letters,  97  ;  of 
towns  in  Syria,  92 

Namyawaza,  111 

Naphtali,  151.  159,  239 

Naram-Sin.  10,  17,  18 

Narima.  97 

Nebaioth,  209 

Nebo,  40,  52,  210 

Nebuchadrezzar  I..  172 

Nebuchadrezzar  II.,  275-279 

Necho  I.,  206 

NechoII.,273 

Nefertari,  71,  75 

Nergal-shar-utsur,  278 

Neriglissor,  27* 

Nesbindedi,  168 

Neter-kha,  10 

Ni,  in  Amarna  letters,  98,  116;  see 
Niy 

Nine  Bows,  134 

Nineveh,  178,  199,  201,  253,  262, 
265,  266,  271,  274 

Ninib,  179 

Ningirsu,  19 

Nippur,  plundered  by  Elamites, 
29 

Nirgal,  179 

Niv.  91 .  92,  94  ;  see  Ni 

Nob,  167 

Nobles,  227 

North  Arabia,  207,  239,  243,  246, 
255 

Nukhashshi,  83,  97,  104,  105 

Obed,  164 

Og,  148, 150 

Omen-tablet  of  Sargon  I.,  16 

Omri,  198,  202-204,  216,218 

Omriland,  221 

Ophel,  232,  267 

Ophir,  212 

Opis,  280 

Oracle  at  Kadesh,  142 

Oreb,  162 

Orontes,  200 

Osnappar,  268 

Osorkon,  196,  197 


294 


INDEX 


Pabokh,  146 
Padi,  252,  256 
Palestine,  limitation  of  name,  ix  ; 

in  time  of  Usertesen  I. ,  57  ;  con- 
quered    by     Hyksos,    66 ;      by 

Aahmes,  73;  confusion  induced 

by  Khabiri,  119 ;  under  Horem- 

heb,  124;    under   Sety  I.,    125; 

after  Merenptah,  136  ;  origin  of 

name,  149  ;  invaded  by  Shishak, 

192 
Pa-Kan'ana,  134 
Panammu  son  'of   Bar-Tsur,   230, 

235-237,  240,  241 
Panammu  inscription,  236,  240 
Panammu  son  of  Karal,   230,  231, 

235,  236 
Pai^yrus  Golenischeff,  148,  168 
Paran,  185 
Passport,  97 
Patin,    106,    155,    200,    206,    233, 

234 
Patriarchal      traditions,      derived 

partly  from  Canaanites,  44 
Pa*u,  175 
Pedate-su,  9 
Pekah,  237,  238-240 
Pekahiah,  237 
Pelethites,  181 
Pelusium,  260 
Pennekheb,  75,  76 
Pentaur,  128 
Pe'or,  175 

Periods  of  Oriental  history,  ix 
Persia,  280-281 

Pestilence,  260 

Peten,  58 

Pethor,  153 

Philistines,  38.  145,  148,  149,  166- 
168,  178,  181,  214,  221,  226,  228, 
237,  239,  249,  252,  273 

Phoenicians,  69,  73,  90,  92,  93,  96, 
155,  169,  170,  172,  186,  202,  244, 
252,  254 

Phrygians,  144,  251 

Pidasa,  127 

Pieria,  20 

Pir'u,  243,  246,  247,  248,  249,  250 

Pisiris,  106,  159,  235,  249 

Pithom,  132, 135 

Pitru,  153,  208 

Pi-Tum,  132 

Plunder,  see  Spoil 

Poverty,  227 

Prehistoric  remains,  4 

Priest  of  Midian,  139 

Princes  of  Syria,  84,  86 


Prism     Inscription     of    Tiglath- 

pileser  I.,  179 
Protection    furnished    by    Egypt, 

87 
PsammetikL,  266,271 
Psukha'emne  II.,  188 
Ptahhotep,  tomb  of,  3 
Puduilu,  262 
Pulasate,  145,  148 
Purasate,  145 
Purpose  of  this  volume,  x 
Puukhipa,  108,  109 

Oadesh.  67,  78,  81,  90,  93,  97,  98, 

111,  126,  128,  145,  180,  273 
Qadesh  Naphtali,  184 
Qarqar,  208,  209,  247 
Qartkhadasht,  186 
Qatna,  99,  101,  104 
Qaush-gabri,  262 
Qaush-malak,  239 
Qeba'ana,  193 
Qedem,  58 
Qedeshoth,  55 
Qidawadana,  109,  127 
Qideshu,  98 
Qidrai,  269 
Qina,  79,  80 
QRKhH,  216,  217 
Que,  209 

Raamses,  132 

Rabbah,  81,  183 

Rabbau,  81 

Rabimur,  98,  106 

Rachel  tribes,  124,  138,  142,  143, 

152,  153 
Raenuser,  10 
Ramah,  195,  196 
Ramessu  I. ,  125 

Ramessu  II.,  66,  178;  invasion  of 
Palestine,  126 ;  wars  with  Hit- 
tites,  127-130 ;  treaty  with  Hit- 
tites,  130,  131 :  marriage,  131 ; 
buildings,  132 
Ramessu  III.,  113,  119,  136,  144- 

146,  168 
Ramman,  51,  179,  209 
Ramman-nirari,  king  of  Nukhash- 

shi,  83,  104 
Ramman-nirari  HI.,  204,  220,  221 
Ramoth  Gilead,  208,  209,  217 
Raphia,  248 
Rapikhu,  247 
Rebekah,  124 

Rebellion,  punishment  of,  87,  94 
Red  hair,  5,  61 


i\hi:\ 


-!•:. 


Red  Sea,  58,  65,  140,  100,  215.  223, 
220,  273 

Relink  L55,  L93 

Rehoboam,  191   104 

Rehoboth,  158 

Heinhardt  Papyrus^  xii 

Reknb-el,  241 

Religions,  of  early  Syria,  50;  Bab- 
ylonian influence,  r>4  ;  of  lln- 
tites,  110;  of  Israel,  141  ;  of 
Syria,  281 

Rephaim,  86,  37 

Reuben.  150,  li:0,  219 

Rezon  I.,  181,  L88 

Rezon  II.,  235,  237,  240,  242 

Rib-Addi,  OS.  101,  105,  106,  112, 
115-119 

Riblah,  273,  274,  277 

Ummion,  51 

Rish-Rarnman.  17 

River  of  Egypt.  153,  275 

Ro,  110 

Romance  of  Sinuhit,  57 

Royal  cities,  82 

Ruhaba,  103 

Hit lil.  on  Hebrew  chronology,  xii 

Rukhub,  209 

Rukibtu,  242 

Rusa,  248 

Ruten,  38, 43, 59,  75,  76,  SI,  196, 197 

Sab^ans,  190,  248,  263 

Sabbath.  52 

Sa'diyeh,  127 

SA-OAS,  ideogram   for  Khabiri, 

111 
Sahura,  10 
Sa'ira,  146 
Sais,  266 
Sakere,  122 
Salamanu,  228,  239 
Salem,  38 

Sallier  Papyrus,  56,  57,  128 
Sam'al,  206,234,  235,  241 
Samaria,  203,  207,   235,  244,   246, 

248,  268,  272 
Samaritans,  268 
Samse,  247,  248. 
Samuel,  26,  173 
Sanda,  110 
Sanduarri,  263 
Sangara,  91,  158,  200,  206 
Sanipu.  239 
Sapalulme,  106,  206 
Sapalulu,  106, 123,  124 
Sarah,  124 
Sarakos,  273 


Sardinians,  s:;.  127,  134 

Sarduri  1..  210 

Sanlnri  11..  229 

Saxepta,  254 

Sargon  I.,  16 

Sargon  II.,  takes  Samaria,  244; 
conquers  Syria  ami  Palestine, 
247;  wars  with  Armenia  and 
Arabia.  248 ;  against  Ashdod, 
240;  takes  Babylon,  25 1 

Saul,  17:;- 177 

Scheil,  copy  of  letter  of  Kham- 
murabi.  83,  34. 

Scythians.  '.'71 

Sea  of  the  Arabah,  225 

Sea  of  Sedge.  11(1 

Sea-peoples,  133,  144,  146,  148,  159 

Sebneh-Su  inscription,  179 

Seir,  146,  211 

Sela.  222 

Semites,  earliest  historical  inhab- 
itants. 2  ;  not  aboriginal.  3  ;  mi- 
grated from  Arabia,  4  ;  racial 
characteristics,  4 ;  earliest  mi- 
gration, 6  ;  representation  on 
Egyptian  monuments.  10  ;  second 
migration,  25  ;  third  migration, 
66-70 ;  fourth  migration,  111— 
114 ;  fifth  migration,  269,  261 ; 
end  of  rule,  28] 

Semitic  loan-words  in  Egyptian, 
2,57 

Sennacherib,  251  ;  expedition 
against  Merodach-baladan,  253  ; 
against  Palestine.  254  -  256  ; 
against  Jerusalem,  256-260  ;  sup- 
posed later  campaign,  258-260  ; 
destruction  of  army,  260  ;  assas- 
sination, 262 

Seqenenra,  72 

Seqenenra  III. ,  70 

Sera,  in  Hittite  names,  106 

Sesostris,  129 

Sethos,  260 

Setnekht,  144 

Sety  I.,  125 

Setyll.,  136 

Sewe,  243 

Shabako,  243.  253 

Shabutuna,  12S 

Shakalsha,  133,  145 

Shalama.  129 

Shallum,  231 

Shalman.  228 

Shalmaneser  I..  113,  178 

Shalmanoser  II.,  51,  153,  158,  224; 
conquest  of   Armenia,   205 ;    of 


296 


INDEX 


Syria,  206 ;  wars  with  Damas- 
cus, 208,  209,  213,  214,  218,  219; 
later  years,  219 

Shalmaneser  III.,  223,  224 

Shalmaneser  IV.,  234,  242;  con- 
quest of  Syria,  244 

Shamanu,  19,  20,  23 

Shamash,  51,  111,  179, 

Shamashshumukin,  265,  267,  268 

Shamgar,  158 

Shamshi-Ramman  I. .  66 

Shamshi-Ramman  IV. ,  219 

Shanama,  8L,  193 

Sharganisharali,  15 

Sharhana,  72,  82,  127,  133 

Sharru-Ishdagal,  18 

Sharuhen,  67,  72,  73,  78 

Shashru,  22,  23 

Shasu,  13,  125 

Shaul,  153 

Shaveh,  38 

Sheba,  190 

Shechem,  148,  164,  165,  167 

Shem,  114 

Shemesh,  241 

Shemesh-aduma,  94 

Shepherd  kings,  66 

Sheshonq,  192 

Shiana,  209 

Shigata,  116 

Shiloh,  167 

Shinar,  32,  34,  91,  130 

Shishak  I.,  147,  161  ;  invades  Pal- 
estine, 192 ;  inscription,  193 

Shobach,  183 

ShRN,  216 

Shuardata,  105 

Shunem,  81,  193 

Sib'i,  243,  246,  247,  250 

Sibitti-Baal.  235 

Sidon,  98,  112,  201,  218,  221,  254, 
255,  263,  265,  276,  277 

Sihon,  148,  150 

Simanu,  23 

Simeon,  150,  151,  160 

Simuru,  22 

Simyra,  22,  90,  98,  116,  117,  118 

Sin,  50,  138 

Sinai,  50,  137,  138-140 

Sinaitic  mines,  9,  56 

Singing  girl,  171 

Sinidinnam,  33,  34 

Sinim,  209 

Sinmuballit,  35 

Sinuhit.  travels  of  28,  57-61 

Sippar,  245,  268,  280 

Siptah,  136 


Sisera,  158-160 

Slaves,  61,  72 

Smendes,  168,  169 

So,  243 

Sodom,  32 

Solomon,  187-191 

Sons  of  the  prophets,  173,  217 

Sopdu,  9 

Soreu,  145 

South  Arabia,  26, 190, 197,  211,  ?14, 
226,  249 

Spoil,  82,  89.  92 

Steindorff,    on   Egyptian   chronol- 
ogy, xi 

Sti,  12,  58 

Stone  Age  in  Syria,  4,  5 

Stone  of  Job,  127 

Store-cities,  132,  201,  202 

Strongholds,  see  Fortresses,  202 

Subsalla,  19,  20,  23 

Succoth,  135 

Sueferu,  10 

Sulumal,  229 

Summons  to  Egypt,  87,  118 

Sumra,  22 

Sumu  in  proper  names,  26 

Sun, 110 

Surasir,  106 

Suri,  ix,  16,  18 

Susa,  245,  268 

Sutekh,  71,  110 

Suti,  39,  112,  114,  125 

Synchronous  History,  66 

Syria,  limitation  of  Dame,  ix;  ge- 
ographical configuration.  1  ;  cen- 
tral location,  2,  102 ;  invaded  by 
Una,  11 ;  conquered  by  Lugalzag- 
gisi,  15;  by  Sargon  I.,  17  ;  ruled 
by  Naram-Sin,  18 ;  furnished 
building  materials  for  Gudea,  1 9 ; 
ruled  by  early  Babylonian  kings, 
23  ;  under  Elamite  rule,  31  ;  ruled 
by  first  and  second  dynasties  of 
Babylon,  48 ;  influenced  by 
Babylonian  civilization,  49;  lan- 
guage at  time  of  Amarna  letters, 
50;  early  religions,  50;  products 
in  Egypt,  56;  slaves  in  Egypt, 
61 ;  merchants  in  Egypt,  62 ; 
cut  off  from  Babylon  by  Mi- 
tanni,  65;  invaded  by  Tahu- 
times  I.,  75,  76 ;  revolts  from 
Tahutimes  III.,  77;  surrenders 
to  Tahutimes  III.,  82;  under 
rule  of  Tahutimes  III.,  82-88 
restive  under  Egyptian  rule,  86 
benefited  by  Egyptian  rule,  88 


[NDEX 


207 


revolt  against  Tahutimes  III.. 
89;  revolt  against  Amenhotep 
11.  91;  sniiiinssion  to  Egyptian 
rule,  '.14;  cities  named  in  Ainar- 
ni  letters,  88 ;  loyalty  to  Am  n 
hotep  III.,  98-101;  attempted 
revolt,  10.;  invaded  by  Hittites, 
LOS;  decline  of  Egyptian  power, 
103;  thrown  Into  disorder  by 
Hittites  and  Kliabiri.  114-121  ; 
condition  under  Amenhotep  I  V. , 
121  ;  conquered  by  Hittites.  123; 
under  Etamessu  II  .  132;  occu- 
pation by  Axmseans,  155  ;  from 
1300  876B.O.,  157  ;  in  eleventh 
century,  172  ;  invaded  by  Ashur- 
natsirpal,  100:  invaded  l>y  Ara- 
bians, 211;  weakened  by  wars 
with  Shalmaneser  II.,  214;  in- 
vaded by  Ramman-nixari  III., 
220;  independent  of  Assyria. 
224 ;  religion  of.  231 ;  revolts 
from  Sargon,  24(5 ;  revolts  from 
Sennacherib,  252;  loyal  t<>  ESsar- 
haddon,  262  ;  revolt  from  Ashur- 
banipal,  267  ;  submits  to  Ashur- 
banipal,  268  ;  invaded  by  Scyth- 
ians,  271  ;  invaded  by  Necho 
II.,  273  ;  submission  to  Nebu- 
chadrezzar II. ,  275 ;  alliance 
with  Hophra.  276  ;  end  of  early 
nations,  281 ;  end  of  ancient  pe- 
riod, 281 
Syro-Ephraimitic  war,  838 

Tabeel,  223 

Tabrimmon,  187,  104 

Tadukhipa,  108 

Tahutimea  I.,  73,  75,  76 

Tahutimes  II.,  77 

Tahutimes  III.,  42,  77-94  ;  Annals, 
77 ;  first  expedition,  78-82,  gov- 
ernment of  Syria,  82-SS ;  later 
expeditions,  89-93;  later  years, 
93  ;  fame  in  Syria,  94. 

Tahutimes  IV..  95 

Takhtaly  Bunar,  235 

Takhtim-Khodshi.  184 

Tanaach.  81,  160,  193 

Tanaka,  70,  81,  193 

Tandamane,  206 

Tanis,  66,  Ids 

Tanut-Amen.  266 

Tare-Tishubu,  I  (is.  130 

Tarkhu.  107,  108,  110 

Tarkhulara,  107,  220,  235,  250 

Tarkhunazi,  L07 


Tarkhundaraush,  104,  107 

Tarkondemos,  108 

Tarqn,  '.'til 

Tai   r | ii  (?)  dim  ('r)-me,  108 

Tartan.  25(1.  see  Tartan 

Tartessus,  190 

Ta  -    -  191 

Tekemel    72 

Tekhonu,  L34 

Tell-el-Amarna,  LOS,  110.  122 

Tenia,  280 

Teman,  162 

Temple  oi'  Solomon,  100 

Tent-Amen,  17ti 

Tenu,58,  59.  60 

Thebes,  55.  70,   UI3.    164,  266 

Threshing-sledges,  228 

Thuku.  135 

Tibni.  202 

Tidal,  king  of  Goiim,  32,  33 

Tidannm,  10,  20,  23,59 

Tidnim,  23 

Tidnum,  58 

Tiglath-pileser  I.,  66,  106,  172,  178 
1.-' 

Tiglath-pileser  III.,  204.  222,  224, 
228  ;  war  with  Armenia.  229, 230  ; 
conquest  of  Syria,  230;  cam- 
paigns against  Azriyau,  2:;:!  ; 
receives  tribute  of  Menahem  ami 
of  Panammu,  235 ;  in  Panannnu 
inscription,  237-240;  campaign 
against  Pekah,  238-240  ;  in  Bar- 
Rekub  inscription,  241 ;  takes 
Damascus,  242 

Tikhis,  00,  94 

Timasqi,  81 

Timashgi ,  OS 

Timber  brought  from  Phoenicia, 
92,  126,  168-171,  186 

Tiphsah,  232 

Tirhaqa,  257-266 

Tirzah,  107,  108,  203 

Tishub,  108 

Titles  of  Pharaoh  in  Amarna  let- 
ters, 99 

Tob,  166 

Toi,  183 

Tola,  165, 

Trade,  9,  14,  19.  21,  56,  57,  61,  73, 
88, 114,  139,  189,  190,  226,  263, 
273 

Traditions  of  Israel  not  ancient,  1, 
53 

Transcription  of  proper  names, 
xii 

Treaty,  130 


298 


INDEX 


Tree  of  life,  52 

Trees  brought  to  Thebes,  89 

Tribute,  82,  85,  89,  92,  94,  96,   201, 

203,  205,  218,  220,  221,  232,   234, 

235,  239,  242,  256 
Tsiduna,  98 
Tsumur,  98,  116 
Tsurri,  98 
Tuklat-Ninib,  178 
Tunep,   in   Egyptian  inscriptions, 

89,  92,  130,  146 
Tunip,  in  Amarna  letters,  87,  88, 

98,  105,  116,  118 
Turranos,  145 
Tursha,  133 
Turtan,  243,  246,  266 
Tuscans,  133 
Tushpa,  219 
Tutankhamen,  122 
Tutankhaten,  122 
Tu-ud-khul-a=Tidal  (?),  33 
Tyre,  xvii,    xix,  98,  100,  169,  186, 

189,  201,  202,  205,  209,  218,  221, 

228,  235,  237,  242,  244,  254,  255, 

263,  264,  276,  278 
Tyreni,  133 

Uaite,  269 
Uashdata,  105 
Uazed,  28 
Ubi,  97,  111 
Ugbaru,  280 
UUaza,  116 

Una,  inscription  of,  11 
Unqi,  200,  234 
Upi,  280 
Upper  Sea,  20 
Upper  Tenu,  58 
Ur,  18,21,42,46 
Urbillu,  22,  23 
Ur-Gur,  18,  21 
Urim  and  Thummim,  54 
Ur-Nina,  14 
Ursu,  19,  20 
Urumia,  248 
Urusalim,  38,  49,  98 
Usanati,  209 
Usertesen  II.,  62 
Ushu,  254,  268,  270 
Ut-napishtim,  53 

Uzziah,    205,    223,    225-227,    232, 
233 

Valley  of  Salt,  184,  222 
Van,  179,  219 
Vanic  inscriptions,  223 
Vow,  of  Jephthah,  166 


Wadt  Maghara,  rock  inscriptions, 

10 
Wall  of  the  Forests,  216 
Wall  of  the  Mound,  216 
Wall  of  the  Princes,  9,  58 
Washasha,  145 
Wealth,  227 
Weapons  of  Syrians,  12,  61,  62,  82, 

110 
Wen-Amen,  168-172 
Wild  oxen,  179 
Wine,  171 
Workmen,  131 

Ya,  used  as  preformative,  26 

Yabitiri,  100 

Yadi-Addu,  84 

Yahu,  234 

Yahweh,   138,  141,   166,   216,  234, 

258,  268  ;  day  of,  227,  271 
Yamani,  249 
Yamutbal,  47 
Yapu,  81,  98. 
Yaqeb-her=Jacob-god,  28 
Ya'qub-ilu,  26,  28 
Yarimuta,  117 
Yashub-ilu    Joseph-god,  26 
Yatna,  249,  250 
Yatnan,  249 
Yatha'amir,  248 
Yau-bi'di,  234,  246,  247 
Yauda,  239,  245 
Yaudhamaruk,  193 
Ya'udi,  231,  233,  234,  236,  237,  241, 

245 
Yaukhazi,  239 
Yauta,  269 
Yeblamu,  81 
Yehem,  78 
Yemen,  249 
Yenoam,  126,  134 
Yenuom,  82 
Yeruza,  78 
Yewanna,  127 
Yikhlia,  116 
Yitia,  101 

Zabibi,  235 

Zabsali,  23 

Zabu,  30 

Zahi,  92 

Zakkala,  145,  149,  168,  169,  170 

Zalu,  78 

Zalmunna,  162 

Zamara,  90 

Zamzummim,  36 

Zebah, 162 


LNDEX 


2(Jd 


Zebulon,  152.  159 

Zechariah,  231 

Zedekiah,  247,  27fi,  277 

Zeeb,  1112 

Zefta,  79 

Zekar-Ba'al,  169 

Zenjirli,  200,  230,  234,  235,  265 

Zephaniah,  271 

Zeredah,  191 

Zerah,  196 

Zeser,  10 


Zilpah,  126,  150,  151 

Zimri,  197,202 

Zimrida,  1 12 

Ziqqurrate,  55 

Ziri-Bashani,  97 

Zoan,  66 

Zoar,  38 

Zobah,  Tvi,  155,  177,  182,  183,  187, 

Iks,  269 
Zubitu,  269 
Zuzim,  36 


INDEX   TO   OLD  TESTAMENT   REFERENCES 


Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 
Gen. 


i.  52 

ii.  5:2 

iv.  26,  138 
x.  14,  145 
x.  16,  69 
xi.  34 
xiv.  31 
xiv.  1,  32 
xiv.  5,  36 
xiv.  6,  37 
xiv.  7,  36 
xiv.  7,  45 
xiv.  12,  38 
xiv.  13,  36 
xiv.  13,  45 
xiv.  15,  38 
xix.  30-38,  123 
xxii.  2,  16 
xxii.  21,  114 
xxv.  2,  139 
xxv.  20,  39 
xxv.  20, 114 
xxviii.  5,  39 
xxix.  10,  114 
xxxi.  20,  114 
xxxi.  47,  114 
xxxii.  28,  43 
xxxiv.  151 
xxxiv.  2,  148 
xxxv.  10,  43 
xxxvi.  2ff. ,  38 
xxxvi.  31-39, 133 
xxxvi.  31-39, 143 
xxxvi.  31-39, 161 
xxxvi.  211 
xxxvi.  32,  153 
xxxvi.  34,  162 
xxxvi.  35,  163 
xxxvi.  37,  153 
xxxvi.  39,  185 
xxxvi.  39,  175 
xxxvii.  28,  36, 139 
xlviii.  22,  148 


Ex.  i.  11,  132 
Ex.  i.  15,  124 
Ex.  iii.  131,  138 
Ex.  v.  3,  137 
Ex.  vi.  2,  138 
Ex.  xii.  38,  136 
Ex.  xiv.  21,  140 
Ex.  xvii.  37 


Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
143 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 
Num. 

Deut. 
Deut. 
150 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 
Deut. 


x.  31,  130 
xiii.  22,  66 
xvi.  12,  14,  15b, 

xx.  14-21,  152 
xxi.  14,  152 
xxi.  21-25,  148 
xxii.  4,  144 
xxii.  5,  153 
xxii.  25,  152 
xxiii.  7,  153 
xxxi.  8,  153 
xxxi.  16,  153 
xxxii.  41,  165 

i.  271,  36 
ii.     2-8,    18f., 

ii.  10.  36 

ii.  11,  36 

ii.  11,  36 

ii.  12,  22,  146 

ii.  20,  36 

ii.  23,  145 

ii.  24-iii.  11, 148 

iii.  9,  69 

xxiii.  4,  153 

xxvi.  5,  39,  114 

xxxiii.  2,  137 


Jud.  i.  1-3,  151 
Jud.  i.  51,  151 
Jud.  iii.  7-11,  161 
Jud.  iv.  2,  158 
Jud.  v.  152 
Jud.  v.  41,  137 
Jud.  v.  6, 158, 184, 200 
Jud.  v.  14,  165 
Jud.  vi.-vii.  160 
Jud.  x.  1-5,  165 
Jud.  xi.  166 
Jud.  xi.  17f. ,  152 
Jud.  xix.  11,  38 

1  Sam.  iv.  1,  168 
1  Sam.  xiii.  2,  176 
1  Sam.  xiii.  3,  168 
1  Sam.  xiv.  47,  176 
1  Sam.  xiv.  52,  176 
1  Sam.  xix.  20,  173 
1  Sam.  xxi.  168 
1  Sam.  xxii.  31,  182 


Josh.  ix.  2,  148 
Josh.  x.  5,  148 
Josh.  xiii.  22,  153 

300 


2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 

183 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 
2  Sam. 


i.  1-3,  181 
v.  Ill,  186 
v.  17-25,  181 
viii.  1,  181 
viii.  2,  182 
viii.  3-5,  7-8, 

viii.  6,  183 
viii.  14,  1S3 
viii.  9-11,  J  83 
vii.  131,  185 
viii.  18,  181 
x.  1-14,  183 
x.  15-19,  183 
xii.  31,  183 
xxiv.  6, 184 
xxiv.  7,  148 
xv.  18,  181 
xvii.  27, 183 


i.\i)i:x 


3ol 


1  Fviiis^s  i.  1,  210 
1  Kings  iii.  5,  210 
1  Kings  v.  8-11,  190 
1  Kings  vi.  I ,  I:;:; 
1  Kings    viii.     :.':;  25. 

187 
1   Kings  i\.   II    13,  190 
1   Kings. x.  Mi.  181,  189 
1   Kings  ix.  -ill.  190 
1  Kings  x.  2.".,  190 
1   Kings  x.  27  29,  I '."I 

xi.   1  I,   175 
1  Kings  \i.  l  l  2a,  188 
1    Kings  xi.   16£,   1 B5 
1  Kings  xi.  1 7,  185 
1  Kings  xi.  20  40,  1111 
1   Kings  xii.  191 
1  Kings  xiii.  21,  '.".'(l 
1  Kings  xiv.  25.  192 
1  Kings  xiv.  25  2s,  193 
1  Kings  xiv.  30,  192 
1   Kings  xv.  6,  192 
1  Kings  xv.  7b,  194 
1  Kings  xv.  10.  198 
1  Kings  xv.  17  32,  196 
1  Kings  xv.  18,  1*7 
1  Kings  xv.  19,  194,195 
1  Kings  xvi.  15  31,202 
1  Kings  xvi.  24.  203 
1  Kings  xvi.  '.'A,  204 
1  Kings  xvii.  205 
1   Kings  xix.  8,  137 
1  Kings  xx.  1   21.  2H7 
1  Kings  xx.  2(i  34,208 
1  Kings  xx.  34,203,204 
1  Kings  xxii.  204 
1  Kings  xxii.  1-40,210 
1  Kings  xxvii.  :',.  208 
1  Kings  xxii.  44,  201 
1  Kings  xxii.  47,  192 

1  Kings  xxii  47ff.,  212 

2  Kings  i.  1,  203 

2  Kings  iii.  204.  212 
2  Kings  iii.  4,  20:; 
2  Kings  iii.  5,  203 
2  Kings  vi.  24-vii.  20, 

207 
2  Kings  viii.  7-15,  215 
2   Kings   viii.  18,  20, 

204 
2  Kings  viii.  19,  215 
2  Kings  viii.  20,  185 
2   Kings    viii.    20-22, 

214 
2  Kings  viii.  20-22,221 
2  Kings  viii.  28,  215 


2  Kings  ix.   1(1.   218 
2  King,  ...  32f  .  219 
2  Kings  xi.  l   :;.  218 
2  Kings  xii.  171'..  220 
'.'  Kings  xiii.  :;,  7.  22, 

220 
2  Kings  xiii   If  .  221 
2  Kings  x.ii.  121'..  219 
2  Kings  xiii.  20.  222 
2  Kings  xiii.  25.  222 
2  Kings  xiv.  7.  222 
2  Kings  xiv.  S-14,  22.'; 
2    Kings    xiv.    19-21, 

223  ' 
2  Kings  xiv.  22,  220 
2  Kings  xiv.  25,  225 
2  Kings  xiv.  201'..  225 
2  Kings  xiv.  28,  225 
!  Kings  \\.  5  222 
2  Kings  xv.  5.  233 
2  Kings  xv.  8-ls.  232 
2  Kings  xv.   19,  235 
2  Kings  xv.  21-25.  237 
2  Kings  xv.  20.  239 
2  Kings  xv.  30,  240 
2  Kings  xv.  35.  222 
2  Kings  xvi.  3.  238 
2  Kings  xvi.  5.  238 
2  Kings  xvi.  0.  238 
2  Kings  xvi.  7f.,238 
2  Kings  xvi.  9  10.  242 

l\;ngs  xvn  1  M 
2  Kings  xvii.  4,  212 
2  Kings  xvii.  5,  214 
2  Kings  xvii.  0.  245 
2  Kings  xvii.  0,  259 
2  Kings  xviii.    13,  17- 

xix.  9a,  257,  259 
2  Kings  xvii.  24,  245 
2    Kings   xvii.    24-41, 

209 
2  Kings  xviii.  7,  252 
2  Kings  xviii.  8,  252 
2  Kings  xviii.  9,  246 
2  Kings  xviii.  11,  245 
2  Kings  xviii.  13,  246 
2  Kings   xviii.  14-16, 

257,  258 
2   Kings  xix.    9,  258, 

259 
2    Kings    xix.    9b-37, 

257.  25S.  250.  200 
2  Kings  xix.  17.  210 
2  Kings  xix.  301'.,  202 
2  Kings  xx.  1-1 1 .  252 
2  Kings  xx.  0.  252 
2  Kings  xx.  12-19,246 


2  Kings  xx.  12    10.  252 

2  Kings  xx.  20,  25.'; 

2  King,  xx i.  202 
'-'  Kings  xxi.  20,  270 
2  Kings  xxi,  231        JO 
2  Kings  xxii   xxiii  272 
2    Kings    xxii.    12   10, 

210 
2  Kings    xxiii.    20  30, 

273 
2  Kings    xxiii.    31-35, 

21  l 
2'  Kings  xxiv.  1 ,  275 
2  Kings  xxiv.  7.  275 
2  Kings  xxv.  4  21,277 
2  Kings  xxv.  12,22-20, 


1  Chron.  ii.  50fiF.,  281 
1  Chron.  vi.  4-9,  133 
1  <  hron.  xi.  5,  3S 
1  Chron.  xvii.  I.  181 
1    Chron.    xviii.    12f., 
185 


2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 

22S 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 

268 
2  Chron. 

267 
2  Chron. 
2  Chron. 

273 


viii.  3,  183 
viii.  3,  187 
xi.  5  12,  192 
xiii.  2-20, 195 
xiii.  21,  195 
xiv.  214 
xiv.  0  15,196 
xvi.  8,  196 
xvii.  If..  204 
xvii.  2,  203 
xx.  210 
xx.  10,  211 
xxi.  4,  213 
xxi.  16,  197 
xxi.  10f.,214 
xxiv.  23f.. 220 
xxv.  llf.,222 
xxvi.  6-8, 226 
xxvi.9-15.220 
xxvii.  3-0. 222 
xxviii.  5-15, 

xxviii.  17,238 

xxviii.  18,238 

xxxii.  2-8,253 

xxxiii.  llf., 

xxxiii.  14-16, 

xxxiv.  272 
xxxv.  20-25, 


302 


INDEX 


2  Chron.    xxxvi.   6f. 

275 

Ezra  iv.  2,  8-10,  245 
Ezra  iv.  8-10,  269 

Neh.  ii.  19,  282 
Neh.  iv.  7,  282 
Neh.  vi.  1,  2,  6,  282 

Ps.  lxxxiii.  11,  163 

Isa.  ii.  6-v.  30,  227 
Isa.  ii.  7,  233 
Isa.  vi.  1,  232 
Isa.  vii.  If.,  238 
lea.  vii.  6,  238 


Isa.  ix.  4,  163 
Isa.  x.  9,  233 
Isa.  x.  26,  163 
Isa.  xv.  1-12,  225 
Isa.  xix.  18,  69 
Isa.  xx.  1,  250 
Isa.  xxx.  1-5,  253 
Isa.  xxxvi.  257 
Isa.  xxxvih.  252 
Isa.  xxxix.  252 
Isa.  xlix.  12,  209 

Jer.  vii.  12-14,  168 
Jer.  xxvii.  276 
Jer.  xxviii.  276 
Jer.  xli-xliii.  278 
Jer.  xlvii.  4,  145 
Jer.  Ii.  59,  276 


Jer.  lii.  30,  278 

Hos.  x.  14,  228 

AmoB  i.  228 
Amos  i.  3,  219 
Amos  v.  11,  227 
Amos  iii.  12,  227 
Amos  iii  15,  227 
Amos  vi.  1-6,  13,  14, 

227 
Amos  ix.  7,  145 

Obed.  i.  7,  281 

Micah  vi.-vii.  262 

Hab.  iii.  3, 137 


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